April 22, 2017 SEASON STATS| PHOTO GALLERY| TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - The 3rd-ranked and top-seeded Pepperdine beach volleyball team garnered its second-straight West Coast Conference crown at Ocean Park Beach on Saturday afternoon, defeating PCH Cup rivals and 3rd-seeded Loyola Marymount twice throughout the day to earn the title.
Pepperdine (24-3) downed Loyola Marymount 4-1 early on to open day two of the championships. The two teams then met again in the WCC Championship bout, where the Waves once again took a 4-1 win to earn the team's second-consecutive titles since the inaugural championships in 2016.
To open action in the first match, No. 2-pair graduate student Brittany Howard (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View HS/Stanford) and junior Corinne Quiggle (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS) dominated Kekai Whitford and Brittany Estes with a 21-13, 21-7 final mark to pull ahead.
Senior Sarah Seiber (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS/Arizona) and sophomore Nikki Lyons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) then put down Kristen Castellanos and Erin Williams with a 21-13, 21-19 win to pull within clinching opportunity.
Sophomore Anika Wilson (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos HS) and freshman Deahna Kraft (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS) would do the honors in the first match with a pair of 21-15 sets over Emma Doud and Veronica Nederend to clinch the Waves' berth into the championship match-up later in the day.
Sophomore duo Skylar Caputo (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) and Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) also bested Jessie Prichard and Sara Kovac with a 21-18, 21-12 victory to earn the Waves fourth point in the match.
In the second match of the day, it was a familiar spectacle for Waves' fans. Lyons and Seiber's struck first with a 21-11, 21-14 victory over Castellanos and Williams. Kraft and Wilson then defeated Doud and Nederend with a 21-13, 21-17 final result.
Quiggle and Howard clinched the championship title with a 21-12, 21-17 win on court two over Whitford and Estes and Caputo and Dyer put the Waves up to the four-point mark with a pair of 21-18 sets over Prichard and Kovac.
Quiggle and Howard have produced a 24-3 overall dual record in the No. 2-spot, while Dyer and Caputo and Wilson and Kraft have posted 22-5 records against opponents. Lyons and Seiber have gone uncontested at 4-0 since joining each other in the No. 5-position. No. 1-pair, senior Delaney Knudsen (Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS) and sophomore Madalyn Roh (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral HS) has also picked up an 18-9 overall record this season for the Waves.
Next, the Waves look for an at-large bid into the second NCAA National Championships on May 5-7 in Gulf Shores, Ala. The NCAA Selection Show will air live on April 30 at 4 p.m. (PT). Follow @WavesBeachVB for updates and check on PepperdineWaves.com for full results, recaps and more!
RESULTS
Dual 26: No. 3 Pepperdine 4, Loyola Marymount 1 -
WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY TWO | APRIL 22, 2017 | OCEAN PARK BEACH | SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
No. 1: Sarah Sponcil/Savannah Slattery (LMU) def. Delany Knudsen/Madalyn Roh (PEPP) - 19-21, 24-22, 15-13
No. 2: Corinne Quiggle/Brittany Howard (PEPP) def. Kekai Whitford/Brittany Estes (LMU) - 21-13, 21-7
No. 3: Skylar Caputo/Heidi Dyer (PEPP) def. Jessie Prichard/Sara Kovac (LMU) - 21-18, 21-12
No. 4: Deahna Kraft/Anika Wilson (PEPP) def. Emma Doud/Veronica Nederend (LMU) - 21-15, 21-15
No. 5: Nikki Lyons/Sarah Seiber (PEPP) def. Kristen Castellanos/Erin Williams (LMU) - 21-13, 21-19
Order of finish: 2, 5, 4*, 3, 1
Dual 27: No. 3 Pepperdine 4, Loyola Marymount 1 -
WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS FINALS | APRIL 22, 2017 | OCEAN PARK BEACH | SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
No. 1: Sarah Sponcil/Savannah Slattery (LMU) def. Delany Knudsen/Madalyn Roh (PEPP) - 21-17, 29-31, 15-8
No. 2: Corinne Quiggle/Brittany Howard (PEPP) def. Kekai Whitford/Brittany Estes (LMU) - 21-12, 21-17
No. 3: Skylar Caputo/Heidi Dyer (PEPP) def. Jessie Prichard/Sara Kovac (LMU) - 21-18, 21-18
No. 4: Deahna Kraft/Anika Wilson (PEPP) def. Emma Doud/Veronica Nederend (LMU) - 21-13, 21-17
No. 5: Nikki Lyons/Sarah Seiber (PEPP) def. Kristen Castellanos/Erin Williams (LMU) - 21-11, 21-14
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2*, 3, 1
