Pepperdine Upset Bid Comes Up Short Against #6 Hawaii
9/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2004
Final Stats
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team came up short in its attempt to play the spoiler role as Hawaii's Head Coach Dave Shoji coached in his 1,000th match for the Rainbow Wahine Saturday night in Honolulu, Hawaii. In advancing to 10-0 on the season, Hawaii held off the Waves 3-1 (30-14, 27-30, 30-25, 30-23) before 7,377 rowdy fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Filled with energy and emotion, Hawaii jumped out on Pepperdine 8-3 in game one. During the run the `Bows hit at a .714 clip, while the Waves (2-7, 0-0 WCC) were never able to get in to a rhythm as the team hit just .091 for the game compared to Hawaii's .366.
The Rainbow Wahine would score the first point of game two but that would be the last time they would hold a lead in the game. Pepperdine answered and built up a 7-4 advantage on .357 hitting. The `Bows would tie the game up six more times during the game but at 17-17 the Waves scored back-to-back points and led by as many as four as late as 28-24 before knotting the match up at 1-1 going into the intermission.
Pepperdine came out in game three and continued to pressure Hawaii. The two teams traded blows to a 14-all tie before the Wahine took thier first lead of the game at 15-14. Again the match was a struggle as neither team was able to pull away until the end when Hawaii closed out the game on an 8-4 run.
Game four saw the Waves jump out to another early lead but it would be short lived as its last advantage would come at 7-6. Pepperdine hung close and never let Hawaii out of its sight but a 5-2 run at 18-15 would seal the Wave's fate.
Katy Daly led the Pepperdine offense for the fourth consecutive match notching her sixth double-double of the season with 17 kills and 20 digs, while Melissa Mehlhorn recorded 50 assists and 10 digs for her fifth double-double and Kristen Shultz logged her fourth double-double with 14 kills and 22 digs. Lecca Roberts a native of Kula, Hawaii was the only other Wave player with double-digit kills with 10.
As a team the Waves tallied 109 digs led by Hawaii native Kekai Crabbe's 32 - one she of tying the school record for digs in a match.
Pepperdine will put its 42-match West Coast Conference win streak on the line next weekend as it heads to San Francisco to take on the Dons in the conference opener Fri., Oct. 1, and then again against Saint Mary's the following day. The Waves have put together back-to-back-to-back perfect 14-0 conference records heading into next weekend's action.
