LOS ANGELES, Calif. ­Â— The #23 Pepperdine women’s volleyball team put up a good fight but fell at #10 UCLA in four sets (25-22, 20-25, 19-25, 22-25) on Tuesday evening at Pauley Pavilion in the Waves’ regular-season finale.
Pepperdine (20-7) suffered its first non-conference loss of the season after going 12-0 prior to West Coast Conference play. UCLA improved to 19-10.
All three Pepperdine outside hitters finished with double-doubles, as junior Rachel Lumsden (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) had 15 kills and 12 digs, senior Julie Rubenstein (Camarillo, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) had 15 kills and 10 digs and freshman Lilla Frederick (Huntington Beach, Calif/Cornelia Connelly HS) had 13 kills and 18 digs.
Freshman libero Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) had a season-high 31 digs. Junior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula HS) had 45 assists, nine digs and five kills and freshman middle blocker Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) had nine kills and three blocks.
The first point of the match may have been its most exciting, as the Waves repelled nine Bruin attacks (five on digs by Robinson) and Frederick finally ended the marathon point with a kill. The Waves led for much of the first set, though the Bruins scored three straight points to take their only lead at 15-14. Pepperdine rolled off the next five points, however, three on Frederick kills, to make it 19-15. The Bruins would eventually tie the set at 22-22, but at a key juncture, Fiers won a joust at the net to give the Waves the lead, and Rubenstein followed with two consecutive kills. Frederick had seven kills and Robinson had 15 digs in the first set alone.
The Bruins picked up their play early in the second set, as an 8-1 run helped the hosts build a 12-5 advantage. The lead grew to as many as eight points at 16-8. Following a Pepperdine timeout, the Waves scored five straight points as Hill and Rubenstein each had a kill and a block assist. That made the score 16-13, but Pepperdine could get no closer than three points the rest of the way.
The third set was close until the end. The Waves had a number of two-point leads, last at 11-9. But the Bruins then began a string where seven straight players scored at least one point on their serve. Pepperdine notched a few of its own, but not enough to keep pace, and trailed by two points at 21-19. UCLA then ran off four straight points to claim the third set.
The Waves got on a nice roll early in the fourth set, as Hill had two kills and two blocks in a 7-1 run to give Pepperdine a 10-6 lead. The margin grew to as many as five points, last at 15-10 after a Lumsden kill. UCLA would quickly tie the set at 16-16, however. The Waves led 19-17 after back-to-back kills by Lumsden, but the Bruins took over from there, scoring five straight points to go up 22-19. It was just a one-point game at 23-22 but UCLA scored the match’s final two points on a block and a kill.
The Bruins had advantages of .235-.185 in hitting and 14-4 in blocks. They were led by 20 kills by Ali Daley and 32 digs by Jessica Fine.
The Waves will wait until this Sunday (Nov. 30) to learn their postseason fate, as that’s when the NCAA Tournament field will be announced.
Pepperdine has a very strong case to make the field as an at-large squad after finishing in a tie for fourth place in the West Coast Conference. The Waves were ranked #27 in the most recently released official RPI, and they have no “bad” losses, as all seven of their defeats came against teams either nationally ranked or receiving votes in this week’s Bison/AVCA poll.
