Waves Topple #1 USC, Fall to #3 UCLA

Wednesday, February 28

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:00 PM

Pepperdine University

UCLA

Corinne Quiggle (1), Deahna Kraft (31) (Photo by Sarah Otteman)

2/28/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Beach Volleyball

Feb. 28, 2018

Stats & Results

LOS ANGELES, Calif. " At the No. 2 position, Deahna Kraft and Corinne Quiggle clinched the No. 5 Pepperdine beach volleyball team's 3-2 upset over top-ranked USC on Wednesday at Merle Norman Stadium, highlighting the two-dual day. Earlier in the afternoon, the Waves narrowly fell to No. 3 UCLA with a 3-2 final mark.

The Waves (3-2), Bruins (6-1) and Trojans (4-2) will all face again at Zuma Beach on Saturday with Pepperdine and USC opening the action at 9 a.m.

RESULTS

#5 Pepperdine 3, #1 USC 2

1: Brooke Bauer/Madalyn Roh (PEPP) def. Terese Cannon/Abril Bustamante (USC) " 21-19, 21-18

2: Deahna Kraft/Corinne Quiggle (PEPP) def. Brianna Sizemore/Joy Dennis (USC) " 21-18, 19-21, 15-13

3: Haley Hallgren/Sammy Slater (USC) def. Heidi Dyer/Gigi Hernandez (PEPP) " 21-14, 16-21, 17-15

4: Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone (PEPP) def. Jo Kremer/Jenna Belton (USC) " 19-21, 25-23, 15-12

5: Alexandra Poletto/Maja Kaiser (USC) def. Nikki Lyons/Kaity Bailey (PEPP) " 21-19, 21-16

Exhibition 6: Maddie Dilfer/Jordan Ferrari (PEPP) vs. Peri Green/Cammie Dorn (USC) " 21-19, 17-21, uf

Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 3, 2*

#5 Pepperdine 2, #3 UCLA 3

1: Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara (UCLA) def. Deahna Kraft/Corinne Quiggle (PEPP) "21-18, 21-10

2: Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Brooke Bauer/Madalyn Roh (PEPP) " 21-17, 21-18

3: Heidi Dyer/Gigi Hernandez (PEPP) def. Madi Yeomans/Elise Zappia (UCLA) " 21-17, 18-21, 16-14

4: Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone (PEPP) def. Mac May/Savvy Simo (UCLA) " 23-21, 21-17

5: Izzy Carey/Megan Muret (UCLA) def. Nikki Lyons/Maddie Dilfer (PEPP) " 21-19, 21-15

Exhibition 6: Jamie McQuarrie/Chanti Holroyd (UCLA) def. Kaity Bailey/Katie Gavin (PEPP) " 21-14, 21-11

Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 2*, 3

MATCH RECAPS

In the final match of the day, the Waves came out strong. Although in the first flight, the Trojans took both first set wins and the match on court five, Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone fought back to win their second set 25-23 and force a third. With the momentum on their side of the court, the Waves' duo won the third set 15-12 to send Pepperdine into the second flight tied 1-1 with the Trojans.

The Waves continued to pound down in the second flight, winning first sets on two-of-three courts. Brook Bauer and Madalyn Roh dominated the sand against Terese Cannon and Abril Bustamante, collecting a 21-19, 21-18 win to put the Waves up 2-1. After a tough three-set battle on court three, Gigi Hernandez and Heidi Dyer fell 14-21, 21-16, 17-15 to Haley Hallgren and Sammy Slater leaving all eyes on court two.

After Corinne Quiggle and Deahna Kraft won the first set 21-18 to pull ahead, the Trojans Joy Dennis and Brianna Sizemore fought back for a 21-19 set two win to force a third. Although USC took the first lead early on, the Waves were intent on take the win home and eventually worked for an even 13-13 tie score in the final moments. After a stop, the Waves had the energy and Quiggle's final off-speed tip earned the 15-13 win to clinch the meaningful 3-2 victory.

To open the day, the Waves had back-and-forth action in the first flight, with Nikki Lyons and Maddie Dilfer falling 21-19, 21-15 to give the opposition the first edge. Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone countered on court four with a 23-21, 21-17 win of their own to even things up heading into the second flight.

In the second flight, the Waves came out strong on court three as Heidi Dyer and Gigi Hernandez busted out to a 21-17 first set win. The Bruins won first sets on courts one and two, however, to gain the edge heading into the back half of the dual. Megan and Nicole McNamara struck first with a 21-18, 21-10 win over Deahna Kraft and Corinne Quiggle in the No. 1 position. With two matches still in action, the Bruins picked up the overall win with a 21-17, 21-18 win over Madalyn Roh and Brook Bauer on court two.

Hernandez and Dyer fell in their second set 18-21 as the Bruins forced a third, but some solid grit by the Waves helped the pair finish out the third set 16-14 for the match win.

QUOTABLES

Nina Matthies "We were just trying to work on closing things out and staying ahead. This game is so tight, the teams are all really good. The level of volleyball is just amazing, I've watched it grow and it's just amazing. You just need to keep aggressive and we're working on it and we're learning and we just need to keep learning.

I was really proud of Corinne and Deahna for coming back and winning that third set. I was really proud of them and everybody for that matter. We really pushed Brook and Maddy and Corinne and Deahna. We really needed one of them to win at one and two, and they both took that on their shoulders and did what needed to be done.

Saturday will be good, supposed to be raining. We learned something tonight and we have a couple of days to figure things out and rest and be ready for Zuma."

NOTABLES

The Waves No. 4 pair Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone remain undefeated at 5-0 this season.
This is the first win over USC for the Waves since the first match of the 2016 season.
The setup of this match was reminiscent to the Waves and Trojans NCAA Championship bout last year, with all eyes on the final court in play with a 13-13 score in the third set. Pepperdine flipped the script this time by clinching 15-13.
Pepperdine is currently ranked No. 5 in the AVCA coaches poll.
Skylar Caputo, Corinne Quiggle, Heidi Dyer and Madalyn Roh all earned All-WCC preseason honors.
The Waves are favored to win the West Coast Conference regular season this season.

NEXT UP

Next, Pepperdine hosts USC and UCLA at Zuma Beach on Saturday. The Waves take on USC at 9 a.m., then the Trojans and Bruins face off before Pepperdine takes on UCLA to close things up at approximately 11:30 a.m.

FOLLOW

Follow @WavesBeachVB on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to PepperdineWaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.