UPCOMING — The #21 Pepperdine women’s volleyball team (9-0) looks to keep its perfect record intact and improve upon its best start since 2000 with the team’s long-awaited home opener. The Waves host their annual Pepperdine Asics Classic with Cal State Northridge, Texas State and UC Santa Barbara participating. The Waves are going for their fourth tournament title in four weeks.

MATCH #10 — Friday (Sept. 19) at Firestone Fieldhouse: Pepperdine vs. UC Santa Barbara (3-5) at 7:30 p.m. (preceded by Cal State Northridge vs. Texas State at 5 p.m.)

MATCH #11 — Saturday (Sept. 20) at Firestone Fieldhouse: Pepperdine vs. Cal State Northridge (5-4) at 11 a.m. (followed by UC Santa Barbara vs. Texas State at 1 p.m.)

MATCH #12 — Saturday (Sept. 20) at Firestone Fieldhouse: Pepperdine vs. Texas State (4-8) at 7:30 p.m.

RANKINGS — Pepperdine moved up to #21 in the AVCA rankings this week from #24.

ON THE WEB — Beginning in fall 2008, PepperdineSports.com will move to a pay-per-view platform to watch live video of home events. An annual pass costs $69.95 and monthly subscriptions are also available. Live statistics will be available for all home matches free of charge, and links are provided to the home team’s website when the Waves are on the road. Go to the "Wave Casts" link toward the top of the page to find more information. All five Pepperdine Asics Classic matches will be shown online.

TICKETS — Single-match tickets to all home women’s volleyball games are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free to all Pepperdine students and faculty with a university ID. Each of the three Asics Classic sessions (Friday night, Saturday morning/early afternoon and Saturday evening) will be treated as a separate admission.

PROMOTIONS — Friday night is "City of Malibu Volleyball Family Night" and the first 150 fans will receive a Pepperdine women’s volleyball schedule poster. The team will also sign autographs after the match.

OPPONENT INFO — Pepperdine is 25-28 all-time against UC Santa Barbara, with a 14-9 record at home. The Waves won last year’s encounter in Malibu, 3-0. The Gauchos placed seventh in the Big West Conference last season ... Pepperdine is 1-0 all-time against Texas State, with a neutral-site win in 1999. The Bobcats finished third in the Southland Conference’s West Division last year ... Pepperdine is 12-3 all-time against Cal State Northridge, with a 4-3 record at home. The last meeting was in 2005, a 3-2 Matador victory in Malibu. CSUN tied for fifth place in the Big West Conference last year.

LAST WEEK — The Waves won their third straight tournament at the Nevada AT&T Invitational without dropping a set. They defeated UC Davis (26-24, 25-15, 25-17), Missouri (25-15, 25-23, 25-18) and the host Wolf Pack (25-17, 25-23, 25-17). Pepperdine had a remarkable defensive effort, holding opponents to a combined .039 hitting percentage, with none hitting better than .069. The Waves hit an impressive .300 for the weekend. Julie Rubenstein was named tournament MVP for the third time in three weeks (3.3 kills) and Kiah Fiers (10.5 assists) and Rachel Lumsden (2.3 kills) also made the all-tournament team.

GREAT START — Pepperdine’s nine-match winning streak to open the season ties the third-best start in school history. The Waves also opened 9-0 in 1977 and 2000, and went 13-0 in 1997 and 10-0 in 1976.

STAT LEADERS — Julie Rubenstein is first in the WCC and eighth nationally in kills (4.60) ... As a team, the Waves are second in the WCC and 16th nationally in hitting percentage (.287) ... Rubenstein is also first in the WCC in service aces (0.47) and points (5.55) and sixth in hitting (.363) ... Kim Hill is second in blocks (1.10) ... Stevi Robinson is third in digs (4.17) ... Kiah Fiers is fourth in assists (10.58) ... Rachel Lumsden is tied for eighth in aces (0.30) ... Lilla Frederick is 10th in digs (2.97).

ROSTER — The Waves return 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.

JULIE RUBENSTEIN — Senior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein (Camarillo, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) is well on her way to one of the top careers in Pepperdine history and should be a leading 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 2007-08 CoSIDA Academic All-District third team honoree. She was a member of USA Volleyball squads during the summers of 2006 and 2007. Rubenstein is a three-time All-WCC honoree (the last two years on the first team). She was fourth in the WCC in kills in 2007 (4.37 per set) and has 1,435 in her career (fourth all-time at Pepperdine). Quite impressively, she has played in all 352 sets of her four-year career. She is averaging 4.60 kills, 1.97 digs and 0.47 aces and is hitting .363 this season.

KIAH FIERS — Junior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif./Peninsula HS) 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 worked all summer toward achieving 100 percent health. She seems to be back to her usual self, as she is averaging 10.58 assists and has made two all-tournament teams.

CASSI CHAMBERLAIN — Senior middle blocker Cassi Chamberlain (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood HS) earned All-WCC honorable mention honors last season. 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. She is averaging 1.50 kills and 0.70 blocks.

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 (0.41) in Pepperdine history. She was named All-WCC honorable mention as a 2006 freshman and would likely have earned postseason honors last season had she not missed six matches due to injury. Lumsden is averaging 2.73 kills and 2.33 digs.

TOP FROSH — Pepperdine’s three-person recruiting class, ranked #8 nationally by Volleyball Magazine and #9 by prepvolleyball.com, is already paying dividends. All three won starting jobs for the Waves. Each of the three was a Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection ... Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) is the nation’s #8 recruit and is starting at middle blocker. She is averaging 2.00 kills with a .314 hitting percentage and a team-best 1.10 blocks ... 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 2.31 kills and 2.97 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 4.17 digs.

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 Kealohilani Kea (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kamehameha HS), a former state player of the year in Hawaii as a setter, did an exceptional job in the spring in Kiah Fiers’ absence. She made her first career start against Delaware and had 42 assists ... Sophomore Krista Friedman (La Verne, Calif./St. Lucy’s Priory HS) ended last year as the starting libero and averaged 4.27 digs per set over the final 10 matches of the 2007 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. Her status is week-to-week for the time being.

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.

2008 HONORS — The Waves have won three tournaments: Cal State Fullerton’s Radisson Suites Buena Park Volleyball Classic, the Oregon State Asics Classic and the Nevada AT&T Invitational ... Julie Rubenstein is three-for-three 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) ... Kiah Fiers and Rachel Lumsden have each made two all-tournament teams (Oregon State and Nevada) ... Cassi Chamberlain and Stevi Robinson made the all-tournament team at Cal State Fullerton.

WCC PRESEASON POLL — The WCC should have a very close finish if the coaches’ preseason vote is correct. Pepperdine, San Diego and Santa Clara were all within three points of each other, and both the Waves and the Toreros had three first-place votes apiece. The predicted order of finish went San Diego, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, a tie between Saint Mary’s and San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga and Portland.

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.

PEPPERDINE 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 24 times in 33 seasons, including 10 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 11 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).

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.

DIG FOR THE CURE — Pepperdine will host the annual fundraiser "Dig for the Cure" on its Oct. 30 match vs. Santa Clara. Volleyball programs across the country will be raising money for the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation and the fight against breast cancer. Fans will be able to make pledges based on how many digs are made in the match. More information will be available as the match gets closer.

UP NEXT — After a week off, the Waves begin West Coast Conference play by traveling to Saint Mary’s (Oct. 2) and Santa Clara (Oct. 4).