MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's basketball team opens its season on Friday as the Waves look to embark on a new era of success in Malibu.

Head coach Ryan Weisenberg enters his third season at the helm for Pepperdine and brings in his largest recruiting class to date with seven talented newcomers bolstering the roster. Pepperdine also returns eight letter-winners, including three starters, from last year's squad.

The Waves open the season with a three-game road-swing, starting things off against Army on Friday. The team then travels to Albany on Sunday and wraps up the trip with a game at UNLV next Tuesday. Two of the Waves' first three opponents made national postseason play last year, with Army going to the WNIT and Albany making an NCAA Tournament appearance. Pepperdine has five opponents on this year's schedule that made postseason tournaments last year.

Here's a look at the Waves heading into the 2015-16 campaign:

Guards

The Waves come into the season with a pair of young and talented point guards in Sydney Bordonaro (Pittsburgh, Pa./Burrell HS) and Paige Fecske (Studio City, Calif./Chaminade HS). Both freshmen, Bordonaro and Fecske look to both split minutes this season and also see time on the court together.

"We have two great young point guards who play like their hair is on fire," said Weisenberg. "Paige and Sydney bring two different styles to our program. They will complement each other this season and will be trouble for our opponents."

Fecske is a local product from Chaminade High School who helped guide her prep team to CIF titles in each of the last three seasons. Bordonaro hails from Pittsburgh, Pa. and earned all-state and league MVP honors before coming to Malibu.

Wings

Possibly the deepest position group across the board for the Waves, Pepperdine will have a stable of athletes strengthening the team's roster on the wings.

"Erica Ogwumike, Allie Green, Kayla Blair, Kim Jacobs, Keyari Sleezer and Whitney Williams are a dynamic and athletic group of wing players who will compete very hard for us," said Weisenberg. "We are very deep and very talented on the wings, and it is going to be fun to watch them run teams off the court."

The most experienced of the bunch Green (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento HS) comes into her junior season as the team's second leading returning scorer. Green garnered WCC All-Freshman team honors two seasons ago and scored 11.8 points per game last year. Jacobs (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS) and Williams (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro HS) are the other two returners in the group, with Jacobs averaging 10.0 minutes per game in 26 contest last year and Williams seeing action in 14 games.

Ogwumike (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods HS), Blair (Fairfield, Calif./Vanden HS) and Sleezer (Medford, Ore./South Medford HS) join the team as freshmen this season and early returns look promising. Ogwumike, a highly touted recruit out of Cypress, Texas, impressed in the Waves' last exhibition, posting a triple-double with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. In the team's opening exhibition, Blair and Sleezer had 10 and nine points respectively and Blair posted a game-high six assists.

Posts

Also a deep and versatile position group, Pepperdine has a range of athletes to position in the paint this year.

"We have a group of post players that will make match-up problems for any team that we play," said Weisenberg. "We can go long and athletic with Olivia Ogwumike, Kelsey Brockway and Yasmine Robinson-Bacote, or we can bring the muscle with Devin Stanback, Keitra Wallace, Megan House and Krista Pettepier. The posts complement each other very well and are going to really allow our guards to get great looks at the basket. They will also protect our paint and allow us to be more aggressive on defense."

Wallace (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) enters her senior season as the team's leading returning scorer after posting 12.8 points per game last year. A true inside-out threat, she can get her points in the paint, from range or at the free throw line. Ogwumike (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods HS) and Stanback (West Hills, Calif./Chaminade HS) return after solid freshmen seasons. Ogwumike picked up WCC All-Freshman Team honors after moving into a starting role last year and Stanback played her way into regular minutes late in the season. The 6-foot-3 Stanback also had an impressive opening exhibition with a team-high 16 points and seven boards for the Waves.

Brockway (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) has been a regular in the rotation for the last two seasons and looks to enter into a leadership role on the team as she begins her senior year. Pettepier (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny HS/Pittsburgh) also garnered regular run for Pepperdine last season after sitting out her transfer year from Pittsburgh, playing in 28 games and making 12 starts.

The two newcomers in the group are House and Robinson-Bacote. Robinson-Bacote (Hillside, N.J./Hillside HS) hails from New Jersey and brings a unique blend of size and athleticism to the position. House (Oceanside, Calif./J Serra Catholic HS) brings the most size on the roster at 6-foot-4 and was an all-state prep athlete.

Pepperdine has 11 non-conference games on the schedule before opening West Coast Conference play on Dec. 21 at home against Gonzaga.