Pepperdine University
Loyola Marymount
Three Waves Earn Spot on All-WCC Preseason Squad
2/26/2020 2:42:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. – Brook Bauer, Deahna Kraft and Gigi Hernandez of the Pepperdine beach volleyball team earned All-WCC Preseason recognition, as announced the West Coast Conference on Wednesday afternoon.Â
The Waves entered the 2020 campaign ranked #6 in the AVCA National Coaches Poll and will open the 2020 campaign this Saturday in San Luis Obispo.
DUAL 1: Saturday (February 29) at Mustang Beach Volleyball Complex in San Luis Obispo, Calif.: #6 Pepperdine vs. #9 Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m. PT. Tournament: Center of Effort Beach Volleyball Challenge
DUAL 2: Saturday (February 29) at Mustang Beach Volleyball Complex in San Luis Obispo, Calif.: #6 Pepperdine vs. #8 Cal Poly at 5 p.m. PT. Tournament: Center of Effort Beach Volleyball Challenge
COVERAGE: No live scoring will be available, but more constant updates will be accessible courtesy of the tournament host during the 5 p.m. match. Any updates or results can be found as they come in on Twitter @WavesBeachVB. Additionally, go to PepperdineWaves.com for recaps, updates and more.
LOOKING AHEAD: Next, Pepperdine will return home on Saturday, March 7 for the Waves' Invite at Zuma Beach, where the Waves will take on South Carolina, Long Beach State and Stetson beginning at 9 a.m.
WCC PRESEASON: Bauer, Kraft and Hernandez all received prestigious postseason honors previously, including All-WCC first team honors the past two seasons for Kraft and Bauer and a second team nod for Hernandez. All three Waves also earned All-American acclaim, with Bauer tabbing an AVCA first team honor in 2019. Bauer and Kraft also garnered WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors previously, with Bauer's coming in 2019 and Kraft's in 2018.Â
Last season, the Waves finished 7th in the NCAA Championships and collected a 20-11 overall record throughout the season.Â
Pepperdine was selected to finish 2nd in the West Coast Conference standings this season, under PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount. LMU received 36 points in the preseason poll, while the Waves had 31. The two Southern California teams were followed by Saint Mary's (24), Santa Clara (21), San Francisco (16), Pacific (11) and Portland (8). Additionally, LMU had five players earn a spot on the preseason squad, while Pepperdine had three, Saint Mary's had two and San Francisco had one.Â
#6 WAVES: The Waves kicked off the 2020 season with three sweeps in exhibition duals, taking down Irvine Valley College twice on the road and Long Beach City College once at Zuma Beach. Any Waves pair that has stepped foot on the sand this year has won their match in straight-sets.
OPPONENT NOTES: #8 Cal Poly opened the 2020 season last week in Florida, falling to #2 Florida State and #9 Stetson, while defeating #13 South Carolina and Tampa.Â
#9 LMU kicked off the 2020 season with a 5-0 loss to #1 UCLA before sweeping both St. Katherine and Vanguard University.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesBeachVB on Facebook and Twitter for updates and check on PepperdineWaves.com for full results, recaps and more. Follow @peppbeachvolley on Instagram for an inside look at the Waves' team culture and check out @PepperdineWaves for the scoop on all the Waves' programs throughout the year.
