#5 Waves Make Short Trip to #2 USC; Host Pepperdine Invitational this Week

MALIBU, Calif. – The #5 Pepperdine beach volleyball team is back in action this week, making a short trip to Merle Norman Stadium on Thursday to face #2 USC before returning to Zuma Beach to host Cal and Cal Poly in the Pepperdine Invitational on Saturday.

Prior to Saturday's first dual, the Waves will honor the following seniors: Nikki Lyons, Skylar Caputo, Madalyn Roh, Maddie Dilfer, Heidi Dyer and Jenna Tunnell.

DUAL 23 – Thursday (April 11) at Merle Norman Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif.: #5 Pepperdine at #2 USC at 3 p.m.

DUAL 24 – Saturday (April 13) at Zuma Beach in Malibu, Calif.: #5 Pepperdine vs. #12 Cal at 10 a.m.

DUAL 25 – Saturday (April 13) at Zuma Beach in Malibu, Calif.: #5 Pepperdine vs. #7 Cal Poly at 12 p.m.

COVERAGE – All matches at Zuma Beach will be live streamed courtesy of p1440. Links available on www.PepperdineWaves.com/WavesBeachVB.

Follow on Twitter and Facebook (@WavesBeachVB) for all updates before, during and after matches. Also, go to PepperdineWaves.com for updates, recaps and more.
WAVES WEATHER – On Thursday, the weather calls for a mostly cloudy disposition and a high of 75º throughout the day. Winds will blow southwest at 5-10 miles per hour. On Saturday in Malibu, the weather has a mostly sunny disposition with a high of 71º throughout the day. Winds with start east to west, before shifting southwest at 10-15 miles per hour.

LOOKING AHEAD – After finishing out the regular season on Saturday, the Waves will enter the postseason push, beginning with the West Coast Conference Championships from April 19-20 at Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica, Calif.

THE #5 WAVES – Pepperdine has gone 16-6 overall this season, including a 12-6 record against nationally ranked opponents. The Waves have gone 8-1 at home and 3-1 on the road. Pairs have gone 68-42 overall for a .618 winning percentage.

Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone have tabbed the first double-digit win output with a 10-3 record this season for a .770 success rate. The duo has spent the most time in the No. 3 position, but have also seen action in the No. 4 spot together, and on other courts separately.

On court one, Brook Bauer and Heidi Dyer have spent the most time together in the No. 1 spot, collecting an 8-6 record, while Gigi Hernandez and Deahna Kraft have gone 9-5 in the No. 2 position.

Nikki Lyons and Maddie Dilfer have seen tie in the No. 4 position, amassing a 7-4 overall record, including a 7-3 output in the position. On court five, Simone Priebe and Katie Gavin have seen the most time together, positng an 8-3 record for the Waves.

WCC PAIR OF THE MONTH – Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone tabbed the first West Coast Conference monthly accolade of the season this past week, after a stellar performance on the sand in March. The duo went 10-3 overall, including a 9-3 output in the No. 3 slot and a 1-0 performance in the No. 4 position. The duo went 9-3 against opponents from ranked opposition and tabbed three clinches, including a most recent clinch against #2 USC for an exciting 3-2 finish at Zuma Beach.

OPPONENT NOTES – The Waves have gone 13-12 all-time against the Trojans, dating back to the 2012 campaign when Pepperdine won the first match 3-2 at home. The Waves then went on a six-match winning streak into the 2014 season before USC would win at Merle Norman. The Trojans had a six-match streak of their own from 2016-17, but the Waves rallied in 2018 by collecting four wins before USC would take the final win of the season in Gulf Shores. This season, the two teams have split, with USC taking the first on neutral sand 3-2 and Pepperdine collecting a 3-2 win at Zuma.

USC has gone 20-4 this season and is on a four-match winning streak, including a 3-2 upset over top-ranked UCLA last week.

Pepperdine has never faced off against Cal in recorded history. This season, the Golden Bears have gone 16-5 and are currently ranked #12 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Most recently, Cal took down Stanford and Washington, but fell to USC and UCLA.

The Waves hold a 6-1 record against the Mustangs all-time, dating back to the 2016 season when the teams first met. Pepperdine went on a four-match winning streak, all of which were by 5-0 sweeps, before Cal Poly collected on a season-opening 3-2 stunner over the Waves on neutral courts. This season, the Waves downed Cal Poly 3-2 at home. The Mustangs have posted an 18-7 overall record and are ranked #7 in the coaches poll. The team was on a six-match winning streak, but it was felled by #14 Arizona on neutral courts. Most recently, the Mustangs downed Arizona State 3-2.

LAST WEEK – The Waves had the week off last week, but played in friendly matches against two p1440 pairs, including Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat and Brittany Howard and Kelly Reeves.

The week previous, the Waves went 3-1 in their last four competitions, competing in the Arizona State Invitational and a solo dual at home. Pepperdine downed #6 Hawai'i 3-2 to open the ASU Tournament, before falling 3-2 to #2 USC and downing Arizona State 3-2. At home, the Waves downed #17 Stanford 4-1 on Tuesday.

Against the Rainbow Wahine, Nikki Lyons and Maddie Dilfer and Simone Priebe and Katie Gavin picked up a pair of wins to open the match, before Hawai'i won on courts one and three to even the score and put all eyes on two. Gigi Hernandez and Deahna Kraft would be the clinchers, defeating Julia Scoles and Ari Homayun 23-21, 21-15.

Against USC, the Waves and Trojans split the first flight in three-set matches on four and five. The Trojans took court five, Lyons and Dilfer downed Joy Dennis and Cammie Dorn 20-22, 25-23, 15-13 on four. Then, the Waves fell on court three, before Kraft and Hernandez picked up a 22-20, 21-15 win over Sammy Slater and Terese Canon on court two to even the score. The dual would not have the same end as the previous one, however, as USC won on court one to clinch the overall dual.

The Waves once again split the opening flight against ASU with Michael Kasper and Melanie Paul winning on court five. In the second flight, Brook Bauer and Heidi Dyer won on court one and Alexis Filippone and Skylar Caputo clinched the overall with a two-set win on court three.

In the final matchup, this time at Zuma Beach against Stanford, the Waves had the momentum from the beginning. Playing all five courts at once, Filippone and Caputo finished first with a two-set win on court three and Dilfer and Lyons put the Waves in a position to clinch with a win on court four. The clinch would come on court one as Bauer and Dyer defeated Charlie Eckstrom and Tori Ashkinos 21-15, 21-17. Although the Cardinal won on court two, the Waves finished on a high note with a three-set win from Priebe and Gavin to close on five.

ZUMA BEACH –The Waves call Zuma Beach "home," practicing and hosting all home events at one of Malibu's most picturesque locations. Courts are located just west of Point Dume, between Towers 2 & 3 or at the 29800 block of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Since 2012, Pepperdine has gone 47-3 (.940) at home. The Waves won 13-straight matches from 2012 through 2014. The Waves went 3-1 in 2015, and 9-1 in 2017, but had uncontested home seasons with a 9-0 output in 2016 and an 8-0 record in 2018. The Waves lost for the only the third time at Zuma Beach this season against the Bruins.

#5 Waves Make Short Trip to #2 USC; Host Pepperdine Invitational this Week

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Players Mentioned

Brook Bauer

Skylar Caputo

Maddie Dilfer

Heidi Dyer

Alexis Filippone

Katie Gavin

Gigi Hernandez

Deahna Kraft

Nikki Lyons

Melanie Paul

Simone Priebe

Madalyn Roh

Jenna Tunnell

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