Photo by: Stephen Wandzura
Women's Soccer Gets Texas Tech in NCAA First Round
11/11/2019 4:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine women's soccer team has earned its 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament and the Waves will travel to Texas Tech for its first-round matchup this weekend.
The game is tentatively set for this Friday (Nov. 15) at 6:30 p.m. CT / 4:30 p.m. PT at the John Walker Soccer Complex.
The Waves (11-6-2) received an at-large bid by virtue of their #46 RPI and a third-place finish in the West Coast Conference. The Waves played seven matches against teams that are in the NCAA Tournament field. They are the only team to beat Stanford (a national #1 seed) this season, and the Waves also earned ties with Texas A&M and UCLA.
Pepperdine heads into the postseason on a season-best four-match winning streak.
Texas Tech will be a familiar opponent for Pepperdine, as the two schools played a home-and-home series the last two seasons. The Waves won 3-0 in Malibu in 2017, while the Red Raiders earned a 1-0 victory in Lubbock in 2018. Texas Tech is the #4 seed in this quadrant after going 15-3-2 overall and 6-1-2 in the Big 12. They were ranked #13 last week in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
"A lot of people that we spoke with felt like we were safely in, but they left it late in that last group, so to finally see your name come up on the board was really sweet," Pepperdine Coach Tim Ward said. "It's going to be a great soccer game. They have a great soccer tradition and a fantastic venue. Not an easy game, but at this point in the season, you just want another game to play. So we're really going to enjoy this. We're going to prepare as best we can for it, and go down and give it the old Waves try."
Pepperdine's 11 NCAA Tournament appearances include a five-year run from 2001-05 and then six more times this decade (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019). The Waves made trips as far as the Sweet 16 in 2002, 2005 and 2014. The Waves have an all-time postseason record of 8-10-2 (.450) and have advanced out of the first round seven out of 10 times.
The winner of the Pepperdine-Texas Tech game will face either Michigan or Bowling Green in the second round, likely in North Carolina, the following weekend.
The game is tentatively set for this Friday (Nov. 15) at 6:30 p.m. CT / 4:30 p.m. PT at the John Walker Soccer Complex.
The Waves (11-6-2) received an at-large bid by virtue of their #46 RPI and a third-place finish in the West Coast Conference. The Waves played seven matches against teams that are in the NCAA Tournament field. They are the only team to beat Stanford (a national #1 seed) this season, and the Waves also earned ties with Texas A&M and UCLA.
Pepperdine heads into the postseason on a season-best four-match winning streak.
Texas Tech will be a familiar opponent for Pepperdine, as the two schools played a home-and-home series the last two seasons. The Waves won 3-0 in Malibu in 2017, while the Red Raiders earned a 1-0 victory in Lubbock in 2018. Texas Tech is the #4 seed in this quadrant after going 15-3-2 overall and 6-1-2 in the Big 12. They were ranked #13 last week in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
"A lot of people that we spoke with felt like we were safely in, but they left it late in that last group, so to finally see your name come up on the board was really sweet," Pepperdine Coach Tim Ward said. "It's going to be a great soccer game. They have a great soccer tradition and a fantastic venue. Not an easy game, but at this point in the season, you just want another game to play. So we're really going to enjoy this. We're going to prepare as best we can for it, and go down and give it the old Waves try."
Pepperdine's 11 NCAA Tournament appearances include a five-year run from 2001-05 and then six more times this decade (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019). The Waves made trips as far as the Sweet 16 in 2002, 2005 and 2014. The Waves have an all-time postseason record of 8-10-2 (.450) and have advanced out of the first round seven out of 10 times.
The winner of the Pepperdine-Texas Tech game will face either Michigan or Bowling Green in the second round, likely in North Carolina, the following weekend.
