Women's Soccer Ranked 10th in Final Coaches Poll
12/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
MALIBU, Calif. - The final season rankings were released by the NSCAA this week and the Pepperdine women's soccer team finished the year ranked No. 10 in the national coaches poll.
The Waves finished the season 16-3-4, making the third Sweet 16 appearance in program history and the eighth overall NCAA Tournament appearance.
The No. 10 ranking matches the second-highest final-season ranking in program history. The 2002 squad, which also made a Sweet 16 run, finished the year ranked fifth in the country and the 2011 team finished the year ranked No. 10. Pepperdine has finished the year ranked in the Top 25 six times, all coming during head coach Tim Ward's tenure.
The Waves climbed as high as No. 7 in the coaches poll this season after picking up signature non-conference wins over No. 8 North Carolina, No. 17 Kentucky and USC, as well as six WCC victories which included wins over No. 22 BYU, Santa Clara and Portland.
Pepperdine grabbed a #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and defeated USC in a penalty shootout to advance to the second round for the first time since 2005. The Waves then downed Illinois State, 4-0, to advance to the Sweet 16 where they would eventually fall to then top-ranked UCLA in a match that stayed scoreless until the 88th minute.
The team's 16 wins this year are the second most in program history and the squad's 11 shutouts match a Pepperdine record. The Waves had eight players earn All-WCC honors and five Waves took home NSCAA All-West Region awards. Lynn Williams became the program's first NSCAA All-American first team honoree this year and Hailey Harbison took home WCC Freshman of the Year honors. Ward was also named WCC co-Coach of the Year, giving him his third such honor.
