Eighteenth-Ranked Waves Venture to Fort Collins, Colo.
9/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2004
MALIBU, Calif. -
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The Pepperdine women's volleyball team will travel to Fort Collins, Colo. this weekend to compete in the University Park Classic where it is scheduled to face Southern Mississippi, #11 Colorado State and Ohio at Moby Arena.
The Waves (2-3) dropped nine spots in the latest USA Today/CSTV poll after suffering a pair of losses to then-#18 Louisville and then-#19 Arizona last weekend in Tucson, Ariz. In last weekend's Four Points University Plaza Wildcat Classic senior Christa Hinds earned her second all-tournament team honor of the season as she recorded a team-best 56 digs over three matches. The Beverly Hills, Calf. native is fifth in the NCAA in digs-per-game carrying a 5.65 average. Junior Katy Daly (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) has been in mid-season form in the early going for Pepperdine as her four double-doubles on the season leads the West Coast Conference.
Southern Miss (3-2) enters the weekend having won its last two contests over McNeese State and South Alabama. Jassmien Stephens and Leslie Vanduinen who are averaging 2.91 and 2.77 kills-per-game, respectively, lead the Golden Eagles.
In the featured match up of the weekend, the Waves will take on host Colorado State. The 11th-ranked Rams enter the weekend with a 5-1 record and riding a five-match win streak. The lone blemish on CSU's record is a 3-1 loss to now top-ranked Minnesota in the season opener. The duo of Katie Shirley-Cahoon and Tess Rodgers have logged 75 kills apiece this season, while Melissa Courtney's 13.38 assists-per-game is 16th in the NCAA. The match will be aired live on Fox Sports Net (Rocky Mountain).
Pepperdine will conclude action in the Classic on Sunday when it takes on Ohio. The Bobcats' (6-1) attack is paced by Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, Briana Adamovsky. Ohio is receiving votes in the current poll and also enters the weekend having won its last five contests. Oddly enough, the Bobcats have yet to play more than the minimum three games in any match this season.
The Waves will play Southern Miss at 4:00 on Thursday, followed the Colorado State match at 6:45 on Friday and will conclude the weekend's tournament with a 10:00 a.m. first-serve on Saturday against Ohio.
ROAD WARRIORS: Last week the Waves began an 11-match road swing spanning 35 days. First up for Pepperdine was the Four Points University Plaza Wildcat Classic. The Waves faced then #18 Louisville, #19 Arizona and Nicholls State during the two-day event (Sept. 10-11), posting a 1-2 record. This weekend, Pepperdine will head to the Rocky Mountains for the University Park Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. (Sept. 16-18) where the Waves are set to play against Southern Mississippi, #11 Colorado State and Ohio. A two-day two-match trip to #7 Hawaii (Sept. 24-25) will serve as a final warm up leading into WCC play where Pepperdine will open conference action at the University of San Francisco before playing at Saint Mary's. The final match on the trip will pit the Waves against cross-town rivals Loyola Marymount on Oct. 8.
TOP 25 CRAZY: Having played the then top-ranked team in the country on opening weekend the Wave's schedule hasn't gotten any easier. Last week Pepperdine played then #18 Louisville and at then #19 Arizona. A trip to the University Park Classic this weekend will put Pepperdine up against 11th-ranked Colorado State and Ohio which received 19 votes in the latest USA Today/CSTV Top 25. The latest poll has the Waves playing 12 teams ranked or receiving votes a total of 17 matches.
HINDS-IGHT: Senior Christina Hinds continues to be one of the best defensive players in Division I. After earning the WCC Defensive Player of the Year award as a junior, the Beverly Hills, Calif. native is leading the conference in digs per game with 5.65 and ranked fifth in all of Division I (as of Sept. 5). In the season opener against Georgia Hinds tied the school record of 33 digs and is just 410 digs away from tying the career record.
FROM THE SIDELINES: The Waves continue to play the first-half of the season shorthanded as three key players have yet to see action due to injuries while a fourth has seen weekend time only.
• Ali McCourt had a cancerous area removed from her neck and is just getting back to the court for light workouts. • Breegan Mulligan underwent shoulder surgery over the summer and is expected to miss another 4-6 weeks. • Megan Scheenstra is recovering from a stress fracture in her fibia and is out another 2-4 weeks. • Lecca Roberts has been playing in matches but didn't see any practice time until Sept. 1.
PEPPERDINE AND THE POLLS: After posting a 1-2 record last weekend, the Pepperdine volleyball team fell from the top 10 for the first time since Nov. 4, 2002, a span of 25 weeks. This week's No. 18 ranking is the lowest Pepperdine has been ranked since the final rankings in 2000. The last time a Waves team was ranked higher than 20th was during the 1998 season.
WAVES PICKED TO LEAD WCC: Pepperdine enters the 2004 campaign having received five of the eight total first-place votes by WCC coaches. Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount tied for second with 50 total points although Santa Clara had two first-place votes, while San Diego, and Saint Mary's round out the top five. San Francisco, Portland and Gonzaga occupied the sixth-eight spots.
TV TIME: This weekend's feature match at the University Park Classic will pit 11-ranked Colorado State against #19 Pepperdine in a match which is scheduled to be aired live on Fox Sports Mountain. Pepperdine has already played once on television when it hosted USC Sept. 5 on CSTV's Sunday Night Spikes. The match was just one one three to be aired on CSTV and one of four regular season matches shown on television. The next TV match for the Waves is scheduled to be Sat., Sept. 25th's match against #7 Hawaii.
TOURNAMENT HONORS: Christina Hinds notched 57 (7.12 per match) digs at the Courtyard Marriott Marina del Rey Beach Classic in earning Most Outstanding Libero honors during the first weekend of action. Hinds then added a second all-tournament team honor to her name at last weekend's Four Seasons Univeristy Plaza Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The 6-foot defensive specialist was just one of three Pepperdine players who were tabbed all-tournament in week one as Melissa Mehlhorn and Sophia Milo also received tournament awards.
FACES IN THE CROWD: Reggie Miller of the NBA's Indiana Pacers was spotted taking in the Pepperdine season-opener against Georgia, while Mike Montgomery (Golden State Warriors Head Coach) was in attendance for Sunday's match against USC.
HOME SWEET HOME: During Matthies' head coaching tenure, Pepperdine is 192-57 (.767) in matches played at Firestone Fieldhouse. Pepperdine's all-time 27-year record in matches played at Firestone Fieldhouse stands at 251-87 (.743). Pepperdine, which concluded the 2001 season with a 13-0 home mark, finished the 2002 campaign with a 12-1 record at Firestone Fieldhouse.
THE PROGRAM: Entering its 30th season of intercollegiate competition, the Pepperdine women's volleyball program has compiled an overall record to date of 578-341. A total of 17 Pepperdine teams have posted 20-plus win campaigns, including last year's team that finished the regular season with a 27-3 overall mark. The Waves have earned a final national Top 20 ranking on 17 occasions since the program was instituted in 1975, earning a best-ever No. 4 ranking two seasons ago and a No. 6 final ranking last year. Last season, Pepperdine advanced to the Sweet 16. Pepperdine also advanced to the "Sweet 16" in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Pepperdine made its only appearance at the National Invitational Volleyball Championships in 1995. Since the WCC was formed in 1985, Pepperdine has captured ten of the 18 league championships and posted a cumulative conference mark to date of 227-39 (.912), including a conference record 47-match winning streak from 1988-92. Currently, the Waves have a 44-match winning streak going. The Waves captured their tenth WCC title in 2003 and finished the conference schedule undefeated for the ninth time. Pepperdine has recorded perfect WCC records in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003. The Waves went 14-0 in each of those seasons except for 1985 when they went 12-0.
SPORTS INFORMATION HOTLINE: For updated information concerning Pepperdine athletics, including results and a schedule of upcoming events, please call the Pepperdine Sports Information Hotline at 310-506-7373. The hotline will be updated on a regular basis throughout the course of the 2004-2005 school year. ON THE WEB: For updated information concerning Pepperdine athletics on the Internet, including results and a schedule of upcoming events, please bookmark the following address: www.pepperdinesports.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For additional information on the women's volleyball program, or to arrange interviews with players and the coaching staff, please contact Michael Hawley at the Pepperdine Sports Information Office by calling (310) 506-4333.
