Waves Visit Long Beach for MPSF Semifinals
4/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
UPCOMING — The #5 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team is aiming to knock off two higher seeds at this weekend’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament semifinals and final in Long Beach and claim the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. First up is Thursday’s semifinal, where the fifth-seeded Waves will play the host school, top-seeded and #2-ranked Long Beach State. Paul Carroll is this week’s AVCA National Player of the Week and he and Jonathan Winder were named to the All-MPSF first team last week.
MATCH #25 — Thursday (April 24) at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.: #5 Pepperdine (14-10, 12-10) at #2 Long Beach State (23-5, 18-4) at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament.
MATCH #26? — If the Waves defeat Long Beach State, they will play in the championship on Saturday (April 26) at 7 p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s other semifinal between #2-seeded and #3-ranked BYU (24-4, 18-4) and #3-seeded and #4-ranked Cal State Northridge (23-6, 17-5).
ON THE INTERNET — The MPSF will host free audio broadcasts of the tournament semifinals and final over the internet via CSTV. Pepperdine’s own Al Epstein will have the call.
TICKETS — An all-tournament pass is available for $30 for adults and $18 for youth and seniors. A ticket to Thursday’s semifinals is $20 for adults and $10 for youth and seniors. Pepperdine student tickets are $5. Tickets are available through the Long Beach State Ticket Office (562-985-4949) or at www.longbeachstate.com.
OPPONENT — Pepperdine is 38-35 all-time against Long Beach State. The two schools each won at home earlier this season in three-game sweeps. The Waves have fared well at the Walter Pyramid lately, with four wins in the last seven visits dating back to 2002, and last won there in 2007 in five games. This is the fourth meeting between the two schools in the MPSF Tournament. The Waves won at home in the 2003 first round and the 2005 final. The 49ers won at home in the 2001 first round.
FIRST LBSU MATCH — Back on Jan. 30 ... Playing without the injured Paul Carroll, the Waves suffered one of their only two three-game sweeps all season in a loss at Long Beach State (21-30, 30-32, 21-30). Pepperdine held the 49ers to a .184 hitting percentage, but the Waves hit a season-low negative-.065 (30 kills and 37 errors) themselves. J.D. Schleppenbach had 11 kills and Cory Riecks had 10.
SECOND LBSU MATCH — Back on Feb. 13 ... In his first match back after missing eight in a row with a hand injury, Paul Carroll came off the bench to spark the Waves to a three-game sweep (30-26, 30-24, 35-33) of the 49ers at Firestone Fieldhouse. Carroll had 13 kills and hit .370. Cory Riecks had a match-high 17 kills and would earn co-MPSF Player of the Week honors. Led by Jonathan Winder’s 46 assists, Pepperdine hit .483, which would end up being the team’s second-best performance of the season. Long Beach State hit .411.
MPSF TOURNAMENT HISTORY — Pepperdine has won three MPSF Tournament titles (1998, 2002 and 2005). This is the Waves’ 15th appearance and they have an all-time record of 18-11. The Waves have won at least one match and played in the semifinals in seven straight MPSF Tournaments. Pepperdine has reached the semifinal round in 11 of the 16 MPSF Tournaments ever contested.
LAST WEEK — The Waves were the only road team/lower-seeded team to win during the first week of the MPSF Tournament, as fifth-seeded Pepperdine defeated fourth-seeded UCLA in four games (30-27, 20-30, 30-21, 30-28) at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night (April 19). The Bruins had defeated the Waves twice in the regular season, but both times Pepperdine was without Paul Carroll. Carroll made quite a difference on Saturday with a match-high 29 kills to go with 11 digs, five blocks and four service aces. Carroll earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors for his efforts. Cory Riecks added 22 kills and Jonathan Winder had 58 assists, five kills and five digs. UCLA actually outhit Pepperdine .313 to .286, which was the Waves’ lowest hitting percentage in a victory this season.
MPSF STATS — The Waves rank second in the MPSF in blocks (3.21), third in service aces (1.45), third in hitting percentage (.318), seventh in assists (14.04), seventh in kills (14.79), eighth in opponent hitting percentage (.280) and 12th in digs (8.67) ... Paul Carroll ranks first in kills (6.54) and points (7.61), second in service aces (0.57) and fourth in hitting percentage (.417) ... Jonathan Winder ranks fourth in assists (12.53) ... Mark Hulse ranks fourth in blocks (1.37) ... Eric Liebert is eighth in blocks (1.24).
WINDER — Senior setter Jonathan Winder (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) was the 2007 AVCA and MPSF Player of the Year and is a three-time All-American. He was named to the 2008 All-MPSF first team (his second time on the first team and his fourth time earning all-conference honors). He is averaging 12.53 assists per game along with 1.96 digs, 0.87 blocks and 0.68 kills. Winder has six assist-dig double-doubles this season. He set the school career record for assists on Jan. 19 at Stanford and now has 4,921 in his four seasons. He’s also fifth at Pepperdine in career digs (626). He was named Pepperdine’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2007-08. He helped the U.S. to a bronze medal at the 2007 World University Games.
CARROLL — Junior opposite Paul Carroll (Forster, Australia), another returning All-American first teamer, also earned 2008 All-MPSF first team honors (his second time on the first team and his third time earning all-conference honors). He played in the first two matches this season before unfortunately suffering a fractured right (non-hitting) hand during an off-court mishap. He missed four weeks before returning on Feb. 13. Pepperdine is 11-5 with Carroll in the lineup and 3-5 without him. He is averaging 6.54 kills, 1.30 digs, 0.92 blocks and 0.57 aces and is hitting .417. He had season highs of 33 kills in back-to-back matches against Pacific (March 29) and USC (April 5). He has had at least 20 kills in 12 of his 16 matches (including seven in a row) and has been in double-figures every time. On Pepperdine’s all-time lists, Carroll ranks seventh in service aces (118), ninth in kills (1,342) and ninth in points (1,593.0). A member of Australia’s national team, he was one of the top players at the 2007 World Cup in Japan and hopes to play in the 2008 Olympics (Australia’s qualifying tournament is May 31-June 8).
SCHLEPPENBACH — Besides Winder and Carroll, Pepperdine’s only other returning starter from 2007 is junior outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach (Ventura, Calif./Ventura HS). He was second on the team in kills last season (2.73 per game) and has upped his production to 2.86 kills per game. He’s also averaging 1.36 digs per game. He had a career-high 21 kills against Stanford on Jan. 19. He was named Pepperdine University’s "Wave of the Year" for 2007-08 for community service and school spirit.
RIECKS — Freshman outside hitter Cory Riecks (Auburn, Calif./Placer HS) is averaging 3.32 kills (second on the team) and 1.10 digs. He had a season-high 24 kills at UCLA on Feb. 9. He has reached double-figure kills in 16 matches (tied for the team high with Carroll).
HULSE — Junior Mark Hulse (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township HS) was actually the starting setter at Rutgers-Newark last season, but was converted to middle blocker after transferring to Pepperdine. He is averaging 1.37 blocks and 0.64 kills. He has had season highs of nine blocks (at Pacific on Jan. 18) and five kills (vs. UCSB on Jan. 9 and vs. Long Beach State on Feb. 13).
JAYNES — Freshman middle blocker Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) is averaging 1.40 kills and 1.08 blocks. He hit .875 (14-0-16) with a season-high 14 kills against California Baptist on March 22 and had a season-high 10 blocks at UC Santa Barbara on March 15.
GRUBBS — Sophomore libero Sean Grubbs (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) led Irvine Valley College to the state title last season, then transferred to Pepperdine. He is averaging 1.86 digs with a season-high 14 at Stanford on Jan. 19. He has had double-figure digs five times, most recently with 11 against UCLA in the MPSF Tournament first round (April 19).
McKEE — During the stretch that Paul Carroll was injured, that opened up a spot on the floor for junior outside hitter Matt McKee (Aurora, Ill./Aurora West HS), who didn’t see much court time the last two seasons. He continues to come off the bench at times. McKee is averaging 2.75 kills, 1.29 digs and 0.87 blocks. He had career highs of 21 kills in back-to-back matches against UC Irvine (Jan. 23) and UCLA (Jan. 25).
LIEBERT — A player who saw limited time his first two seasons but has been in the lineup at various points in 2008 is junior middle blocker Eric Liebert (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School). Liebert is averaging 1.46 kills and 1.24 blocks. He had a career-high 10 kills at USC on Feb. 29.
2008 HONORS — Jonathan Winder and Paul Carroll were named to the All-MPSF first team ... Carroll was named AVCA and co-MPSF Player of the Week on Jan. 14, and AVCA Player of the Week again on April 21 ... Winder was named MPSF Player of the Week on Jan. 21 ... Cory Riecks was named co-MPSF Player of the Week on Feb. 18.
WINDER UP FOR AWARD — Jonathan Winder was one of three finalists for College Male Athlete of the Year in the 2008 Southern California Sports Awards, presented by 710 ESPN Radio. The other nominees were Sedrick Ellis (USC football) and Arron Afflalo (UCLA basketball). Ellis won the award at the April 4 ceremony.
MARV DUNPHY — Now in his 25th season as head coach of the Waves, Marv Dunphy opened the 2008 season with a record of 452-173 (.723). He has directed the team to four national championships, each in a different decade (1978, 1985, 1992, 2005). He was the 2005 National Coach of the Year and is a three-time MPSF Coach of the Year. Dunphy also was an extremely successful head coach of the U.S. National Team in the 1980s and led the team to a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics.
PEPPERDINE HISTORY — Pepperdine has won five NCAA championships, second only to UCLA. The Waves have won the MPSF Tournament three times and have won or shared nine regular-season conference titles, including four of the last six MPSF crowns. Pepperdine opened 2008 with an all-time record of 616-270 (.695).
2007 RECAP — The Waves were ranked #1 for much of the season and posted one of the best records in school history, going 26-3 overall and 21-1 in MPSF play. The 21 wins are the most by any MPSF school since the conference switched to its current round-robin format. But Pepperdine lost in the final of the MPSF Tournament to UC Irvine, then was upset in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament by IPFW.
