SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. ­Â— The #13/15 Pepperdine women’s volleyball team suffered a four-set loss (24-26, 25-23, 16-25, 24-26) on Saturday afternoon at San Francisco, the surprise leader of the West Coast Conference at the halfway point.
Pepperdine (16-3, 4-3) lost to San Francisco (17-4, 7-0) for only the second time in the school’s 47 meetings, and for the first time since 1993. The surprising Dons, picked for a tie for fourth place in the preseason coaches poll, are undefeated after the first half of the WCC campaign.
Looking ahead, the good news for the Waves is that five of their final seven WCC contests will be at home, and all of their matches against the WCC’s upper-level teams will be in Firestone Fieldhouse. All three of Pepperdine’s losses this season are to WCC teams on the road.
Senior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein (Camarillo, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) had a match-high 21 kills and a .326 hitting percentage (21-6-46). Junior outside hitter Rachel Lumsden (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) added 18 kills. Sophomore setter Kealohilani Kea (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kamehameha HS) had 51 assists and 12 digs.
In the first set, the Waves were able to erase a four-point deficit at 15-11 and eventually took the lead at 24-23 after a kill by Lumsden. The Waves served for the set, but a Pepperdine service error tied it up again. The Dons scored the next two points on a Wave attack error and a service ace to claim the first set.
Set two was also close with eight ties, the last coming at 21-21. Back-to-back kills by Rubenstein and Lumsden gave the Waves a two-point lead. The two schools traded points until another Rubenstein kill ended the set and tied the match up 1-1.
The Dons scored the first two points of the third set and never trailed. USF was up 9-7 and went on a 9-2 run to build a nine-point lead at 18-9. The Waves would get no closer than five points the rest of the set.
The Waves had their chances to send the match to a fifth set, despite trailing 13-10 in the fourth set. The Waves scored five straight points, two on Lumsden kills, one on a Rubenstein kill and two others on USF attack errors, to go up 15-13. Pepperdine’s lead grew to 22-17 after two Rubenstein kills sparked a 4-0 run. The lead would shrink to 24-22, and with two chances by Pepperdine to put down kills and extend the match to a fifth set, USF recorded blocks. The Dons then scored two more points as part of a match-ending 4-0 run and won the match on another block.
USF outhit the Waves .333 to .259. It was the first time this season a Pepperdine opponent has hit better than .300. The Dons were led by Sarah Mandala’s 17 kills and Haley Carroll’s 23 digs.
Pepperdine is ranked #13 by Molten/Volleyball Magazine and #15 by the AVCA.
The Waves are back at home next weekend to face Santa Clara (Thursday, Oct. 30) and Saint Mary’s (Saturday, Nov. 1). The match against Santa Clara is the annual “Dig for the Cure” contest, designed to raise awareness and funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the fight against breast cancer. Fans are encouraged to pledge a dollar amount for every dig recorded in the match.
