Waves Finish First Meet

Thursday, October 4

Malibu, Calif.

12:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

San Diego State

Photo by: Roger Horne

10/4/2018 3:42:00 PM | Women's Swim/Dive

PEPPvsSDSU 10.4.18

By: by Athletic Communications

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's swim and dive team started its season today, hosting San Diego State at home at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The meet was the first meet under new head coach Joe Spahn.

The Waves battled hard, but ultimately fell to the Aztecs, 71-53.

MEET RECAP
In the dual meet, there were seven events, including the one-meter dive. The swim events were the 200 medley relay, 50 butterfly, 50 breaststroke, 50 backstroke, 50 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay.

In the diving portion of the meet, Pepperdine fielded three divers. Taylor Basin (Las Vegas, Nev./Lynbrook HS) had the best showing for the Waves, scoring 188.75 points. Freshman Paulina Holmberg (Apple Valley, Minn.) scored 161.35 points and Lexie Wanninger (Edina, Minn.) scored 126.95.

After the diving ended, the meet moved straight into the swim portion, beginning with the 200 medley relay. The team of Trinity Ishikawa (La Mesa, Calif./Valhalla HS), Julianna Chan (Davis, Calif./Da Vinci Charter Academy), Haley Bergthold (San Diego, Calif.) and Sammie Slater (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS) had the best finish for the Waves, combining for a 1:51.77. The next event scheduled was the 50 butterfly, in which Freshman Olivia Kayye (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill HS) made her collegiate swimming debut with a 27.83, the best time for the Waves in the event.

The 50 back was next up, where Slater took second place in the event with a 28.02 showing. Ishikawa was right behind her in fourth place with a 28.73.

Chan also had a second-place finish, in the 50 breast, swimming a 31.68, followed closely by Bergthold in fourth, with a 32.67. Amy Griffin (Seal Beach, Calif,.Los Alamitos HS) had the Waves' best time in the 50 freestyle, coming in fourth place overall with a 24.67. just two-tenths off her lifetime best, followed by Caroline Boone (Lexington, Ky./Baylor School) in fifth with a 25.03.

Boone, Ishikawa, Griffin and Slater teamed up in the 200 free relay for a first place finish, combining for a 1:41.08 in the final event of the day.

QUOTABLE
"I thought that our girls did really well," said Head Coach Joe Spahn. "They got up and raced. I also think that they surprised themselves on where they are. It was a really quick meet, so there wasn't a whole lot of rest, so for them to race the way they did against a tough team like San Diego State was awesome. I am really proud of them with where they are at this point in the season.

"I thought Juju (Chan) did really well in the breaststroke, especially during the relay, she really got her tempo up, which was great to see. Some of our backstrokes were really good as well. Sammie Slater on the outside surprised us a little bit with her speed there. Amy Griffin was three-tenths off her lifetime best in the 50 free, which I thought was really, really stellar. And for her to duplicate it in the relay right afterwards was really impressive. We competed today, which was far more what I was looking for, rather than actual results.

"We have a lot that we still need to work on, but I am really happy with where we are so far."

NEXT UP

The Waves will be back in action Friday and Saturday, October 12-13 for the annual Malibu Invite. The meet will be back in Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool, with the first session on Friday starting at 8 a.m.