MALIBU, Calif. ­Â— For the second week in a row, senior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein of the Pepperdine women’s volleyball team has been named the West Coast Conference’s Player of the Week, the league office announced today.

 

Additionally, Pepperdine’s 6-0 start has allowed the Waves to jump into the AVCA coaches’ top 25 for the first time this season. The Waves are ranked #24.

 

Rubenstein (Camarillo, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) earned her second tournament MVP award in as many weekends as she led Pepperdine to three wins and the championship of the Oregon State Asics Classic. She averaged 5.17 kills along with a .359 hitting percentage (62-16-128) and had totals of 72.0 points (6.00), 25 digs (2.08), nine blocks (0.75) and five service aces (0.42).

 

She got progressively better over the weekend, with 15 kills in a four-set win over 17th-ranked Colorado State, 16 kills in a three-set sweep of Pacific and a career-high 31 kills in a five-set victory over host Oregon State. Against the Beavers, Rubenstein had her first double-double of the season (12 digs) and hit .482 (31-4-56). She had 62 of Pepperdine’s 163 kills over the weekend (38%).

 

Through two weeks of play, Rubenstein leads the WCC in kills (5.14) and is second in service aces (0.43) and seventh in hitting percentage (.384).

 

She was also named WCC Player of the Week last Tuesday (Sept. 2) after being named tournament MVP of the season-opening Radisson Suites Buena Park Volleyball Classic, hosted by Cal State Fullerton, on Aug. 29-30. She has now been named the WCC Player of the Week three times in her career.

 

The Waves who are off to their best start since the 2000 season, will go for their third straight tournament title this weekend (Sept. 12-13) as they travel to Reno, Nev., for the Nevada AT&T Invitational. Pepperdine will face UC Davis, Missouri and the host Wolf Pack.