UPCOMING — The #23 Pepperdine women’s volleyball team will meet #24 Long Beach State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Palo Alto, Calif., this weekend. The winner will face either Stanford, the #2 national seed, or Albany. Pepperdine’s three-player senior class will be making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, and this is the 20th overall for the program.

MATCH #28 — Friday (Dec. 5) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif.: #23 Pepperdine (20-7, 8-6, tied for fourth in the West Coast Conference) vs. #24 Long Beach State (25-5, 13-3, first place in the Big West Conference) at 4:30 p.m.

ALSO — #2 Stanford (26-3, 17-1, first place in the Pacific-10 Conference) and Albany (23-8, 12-0, first place in the America East Conference) will play at 7 p.m. on Friday. The winners of Friday’s two matches will play Saturday (Dec. 6) at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.

FORT COLLINS REGIONAL — The subregional at Stanford is one of four in the Fort Collins, Colo., Regional, which will be held on Dec. 12-13 at Colorado State. Some of the other teams in this quarter of the bracket are #7 Hawaii, #10 Purdue, #15 Florida, San Diego and USC. The 2008 Final Four will be held at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., on Dec. 18-20.

ON THE WEB — Stanford will offer live statistics of this weekend’s matches, which can be accessed at either www.gostanford.com or www.ncaa.com.

TICKETS — A limited number of all-session tickets are available for $20 through the Pepperdine Ticket Office (1-866-WAVE-TIX). They will be sold until Wednesday (Dec. 3) at 5 p.m. After that, fans must go through the Stanford Ticket Office by calling 1-800-STANFORD or at www.gostanford.com.

LONG BEACH STATE — Pepperdine is 14-14-1 all-time against Long Beach State. The two schools last met in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, with the 49ers winning in four sets in Long Beach. The only other time these two schools have met in the postseason was in the consolation final of the 1977 AIAW Championships, a three-set victory by the Waves. The 49ers have won the last 11 meetings in the series, but other than matches in 1998 and 1999, the schools haven’t met regularly since 1994. The Waves have gone a perfect 5-0 against Big West schools this season, beating Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Pacific, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara.

STANFORD — Pepperdine is 2-5 all-time against Stanford. These two programs have never met in the postseason. The Waves lost in their only two trips to Palo Alto (1993 and 2002), which are also the last two times these teams have met. The Waves went 1-1 against Pac-10 schools this season, beating Oregon State but losing to UCLA.

ALBANY — Pepperdine and Albany have never played each other. The Waves did not play any America East schools this season.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY — This is Pepperdine’s 20th NCAA Tournament appearance, its 11th in the last 12 years and its fourth in a row. The Waves have a 14-19 (.424) record in the tournament. Their best result was a trip to the Elite Eight in 2002. The Waves reached the Sweet 16 as recently as 2005. Pepperdine lost in the first round in both 2006 and 2007. This is Pepperdine’s 25th postseason appearance overall, including AIAW and NIVC tournaments, and the Waves have a 36-29 (.554) record.

VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD — All seven Pepperdine losses this season are to schools that made the NCAA Tournament, and all five of those schools are currently either ranked in the Bison/AVCA top 25 or in the also receiving votes category. Pepperdine went 4-7 against teams that made the NCAA Tournament (beating Colorado State, Delaware, Saint Mary’s and San Francisco). Six of the Waves’ losses came against WCC foes and the other was to #9 UCLA.

TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE — Following is a list of Pepperdine’s seven players that have NCAA Tournament experience with some key stats from previous years:

Julie Rubenstein — 5 MP, 17 GP, 4.59 kills/set, 1.94 digs/set, 0.65 blocks/set

Cassi Chamberlain — 5 MP, 15 GP, 2.20 kills/set, 0.73 digs/set, 0.60 blocks/set

Caitlin Lawson — 5 MP, 14 GP, 2.79 digs/set

Rachel Lumsden — 2 MP, 7 GP, 1.86 kills/set, 2.43 digs/set, 0.43 blocks/set

Kiah Fiers — 1 MP, 4 GP, 1.25 kills/set, 11.50 assists/set, 1.75 digs/set

Kristen Seaton — 1 MP, 3 GP, 2.00 kills/set, 1.33 digs/set

Krista Friedman — 1 MP, 3 GP, 5.00 digs/set

WCC STRENGTH — The West Coast Conference put five schools into the NCAA Tournament, tied for second-most among all conferences with the Big Ten, and trailing only the Pac-10’s six. Only in 2003 has the WCC sent more teams to the tournament, when six were selected. Five teams were also taken in 2005.

ALL-WCC — Despite finishing in a tie for fourth place in the WCC, the Waves earned 10 conference honors, more than any other school. Julie Rubenstein was All-WCC for the fourth time, including three straight appearances on the first team. Kim Hill was the Freshman of the Year and fellow freshman Stevi Robinson was the Defensive Player of the Year. Those two were joined on the All-Freshman team by Lilla Frederick. Hill, Robinson, Kiah Fiers and Rachel Lumsden were picked as All-WCC honorable mention.

STAT LEADERS — As a team, the Waves are first in the WCC in opponent hitting percentage (.171) and digs (15.35), second in hitting percentage (.270) and third in service aces (1.39) ... Julie Rubenstein is first in the WCC and 15th nationally in kills (4.36) ... Rubenstein is also first in the WCC in points (5.11), third in service aces (0.33) and 10th in hitting percentage (.313) ... Stevi Robinson is first in digs (4.79) ... Kim Hill is first in blocks (1.12) and fifth in hitting percentage (.358) ... Kiah Fiers is fourth in assists (10.55) ... Lilla Frederick is ninth in digs (2.83).

20 WINS — Pepperdine has reached the 20-win plateau for the 17th time in school history. This is the Waves’ first 20-win season since 2003.

JULIE RUBENSTEIN — Senior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein (Camarillo, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) is winding up one of the top careers in Pepperdine history and she should be a strong candidate for national honors in 2008. But she’s more than just a volleyball player. Rubenstein is a member of the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and became the first person from Pepperdine to earn a spot on the national board. She was also voted Pepperdine’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year for 2007-08 and is a three-time WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient, a two-time WCC All-Academic selection and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree. She was a member of USA Volleyball squads during the summers of 2006 and 2007. Rubenstein is a four-time All-WCC honoree (the last three years on the first team). She has 1,720 kills in her career, third all-time at Pepperdine. Quite impressively, she has played in all 419 sets of her four-year career. She earned tournament MVP honors at all four non-conference events in 2008, plus two WCC Player of the Week awards and a CVU.com National Player of the Week honor. Rubenstein is averaging 4.36 kills, 2.43 digs and 0.33 aces and is hitting .313 this season.

SETTERS — Junior Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif./Peninsula HS) and sophomore Kealohilani Kea (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kamehameha HS) have both seen time at the setter position ... Fiers had a brilliant first two seasons, as she was named the 2006 WCC Freshman of the Year and a 2007 All-WCC first team pick. However, she suffered a knee injury just prior to the 2007 NCAA Tournament and after undergoing surgery, she worked all summer toward achieving 100 percent health. Despite missing a few midseason matches due to a hand injury, she is back to her usual self, as she is averaging 10.55 assists. She made two all-tournament teams and was named All-WCC honorable mention this fall ... Kea, a former state player of the year in Hawaii as a setter, did an exceptional job in the spring in Fiers’ absence and did so so again when Fiers missed some matches due to injury this fall. She is averaging 10.16 assists, with a high of 57 against Portland, and has made six starts ... The duo has helped direct Pepperdine to a .270 team hitting percentage, which ranks 16th nationally.

RACHEL LUMSDEN — Junior outside hitter Rachel Lumsden (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) averaged 3.23 kills over her first two seasons and is #1 in service aces per set (0.37) in Pepperdine history. She was named All-WCC honorable mention as both a 2006 freshman and a 2008 junior. She likely would have earned postseason honors in 2007 had she not missed six matches due to injury. Lumsden is averaging 2.84 kills and 2.21 digs this season. She was named to three all-tournament teams during non-conference play.

CASSI CHAMBERLAIN — Senior middle blocker Cassi Chamberlain (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood HS) earned All-WCC honorable mention honors in 2007. She made the 2005 WCC All-Freshman team and is also a three-time WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection. Like Rubenstein, she is heavily involved in Pepperdine’s SAAC program. Chamberlain is averaging 1.53 kills and 0.60 blocks. She made two all-tournament teams during non-conference play.

TOP FROSH — Pepperdine’s three-person recruiting class, ranked #8 nationally by Volleyball Magazine and #9 by prepvolleyball.com, quickly began paying dividends. The three, who were all Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selections, won starting jobs for the Waves and have excelled. Each was named to the WCC All-Freshman squad ... Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) was the nation’s #8 recruit and is starting at middle blocker. She is averaging 2.15 kills with a .358 hitting percentage and a team-best 1.12 blocks. She was named the WCC Freshman of the Year and to the All-WCC honorable mention squad ... Outside hitter Lilla Frederick (Anaheim, Calif./Cornelia Connelly HS) played with the U.S. Junior National Team and was the MVP at the Junior Olympics this summer. She is averaging 2.41 kills and 2.83 digs ... Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) has also played with the U.S. Junior National Team. She starts at libero and is averaging 4.79 digs. She was named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-WCC honorable mention squad.

MORE VETERANS — Senior Caitlin Lawson (Walnut Creek, Calif./Carondelet HS) is a team captain and an incredibly versatile player who will likely have played just about every position by the time her career ends ... Sophomore Krista Friedman (La Verne, Calif./St. Lucy’s Priory HS) ended last year as the starting libero and has come off the bench as a serving and defensive specialist this season ... Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Seaton (Terre Haute, Ind./South Vigo HS) was expected to start on the right side after averaging 1.88 kills last year but is currently sidelined due to stress reactions in a foot. She is redshirting the 2008 season.

NINA MATTHIES — Now in her 26th season as head coach of the Waves, Nina Matthies entered the 2008 season with a career record of 474-286 (.624), which includes 10 conference championships and 17 NCAA Tournament appearances. She is by far the WCC’s all-time winningest coach and is a nine-time WCC Coach of the Year. Matthies was among the world’s top players and is a member of the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame. She won two AIAW national championships as a player at UCLA.

MORE 2008 HONORS — The Waves won all four of their pre-conference tournaments: Cal State Fullerton’s Radisson Suites Buena Park Volleyball Classic, the Oregon State Asics Classic, the Nevada AT&T Invitational and their own Pepperdine Asics Classic ... Julie Rubenstein went four-for-four winning tournament MVP honors, leading to two WCC Player of the Week honors (Sept. 2 and 8) and one National Player of the Week award from Collegiate Volleyball Update (Sept. 9). She was also named the WCC Player of the Month for September. She was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District first team ... Rachel Lumsden made three all-tournament teams (Oregon State, Nevada and Pepperdine) ... Kiah Fiers made two all-tournament teams (Oregon State and Nevada) ... Cassi Chamberlain made two all-tournament teams (Cal State Fullerton and Pepperdine) ... Stevi Robinson made the Cal State Fullerton all-tournament team.

GREAT START — Pepperdine’s 13-match winning streak to open the season tied the best undefeated start in school history, matching the record set in 1997. The 13-match winning streak also tied as the fourth-longest in school history, after 25 in a row in 2003, 17 straight in 2002 and 15 consecutive in 1991. At 15-1 and 16-1, the Waves also had their best record in school history after 16 and 17 matches, respectively.

ROSTER — The Waves returned four starters plus the libero and lost only two starters from the 2007 squad. A total of eight returning letterwinners and three newcomers bring the squad total to 11.

2007 RECAP — It was a year that would be considered good for most teams: 18-11 overall, 9-5 for third place in the WCC and a first-round NCAA Tournament appearance. But there were a few costly losses along the way that hurt the Waves’ hopes for a WCC title and their eventual NCAA Tournament seeding. Julie Rubenstein, Kiah Fiers and Lecca Roberts made the All-WCC first team and Cassi Chamberlain and Kayla Walker were honorable mention.

VOLLEYBALL HISTORY — The Pepperdine women’s volleyball program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power. The Waves have advanced to postseason play 25 times in 34 seasons, including 11 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 12 seasons. Pepperdine’s best finishes in recent years came when the team made the regional final of the 2002 NCAAs, and then in 2003 when the Waves posted 27 victories (most in the Nina Matthies era).

RULES CHANGES — Fans may want to take note of a few rules changes for 2008. The NCAA has decided that games will be now known as sets. And, to bring the collegiate game more in line with the international game, sets one through four will go to 25 points instead of 30.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men’s sports — one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine’s teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.