MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine beach volleyball team will start the postseason push Thursday, making the trip to Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica for the West Coast Conference Championships Thursday and Friday.
The Waves were picked as the #2 seed in the tournament behind LMU, and will face #7 Pacific to begin the tournament.
WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Thursday and Friday (April 25-26) at Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica, Calif.: First match: Pepperdine (#2 seed) (19-14) vs. Pacific (#7 seed) (0-27) at 10:30 a.m.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL:
https://gowav.es/3Uviueb
COVERAGE: Live scoring will be available via the tournament central page. There will be a live stream on Friday on ESPN+ (subscription required) for all non-championship matches, while the championship match will be available on ESPNU. Available results, updates and information can be found on Twitter @WavesBeachVB or on the website at
www.pepperdinewaves.com.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW: The NCAA Selection show will air on NCAA.com on April 28 at 8 a.m. PT.
WAVES WEATHER: Santa Monica calls for a high of 61 degrees on Thursday with wind speeds of two to 10 miles per hour with gusts up to 16 miles per hour. Friday shows a high of 65 degrees with wind speeds of two to 11 miles per hour and gusts up to 18 miles per hour. Both days show no chance of rain and almost perfect visibility.
LAST WEEK IN MALIBU: On Friday, In the first match against Hope International, Pepperdine took the courts with high energy, intent on a quick victory. In the opening flight,
Gracie Pedersen and
Kaydon Meyers made quick work of their HIU opponents, defeating them with a commanding 21-11, 21-3 result for the first Waves' point of the day.
Madison Oriskovich and
Kristine Briede then followed with a 21-11, 21-8 win on court two to send Pepperdine into the second flight up 2-0.
On court three,
Gabriella Perez and
Sarlota Svobodova would be the Waves to clinch, downing their opposition 21-14, 21-8.
Pepperdine continued as
Kate Clermont and
McKenna Thomas defeated their opponents 21-16, 21-7 in the No. 1 position and
Aubrey Roberts and
Emi Erickson won 21-14, 21-6 on court five.
The second match was more contested than the first, with the Waves splitting the first flight. Though Utah picked up the first win on court four, Pepperdine rallied as Oriskovich and Briede came back from a 21-18 first set loss to win the second 21-9 and force a third. The duo had found their footing as well as they blasted off to a 15-11 third set win to tie the overall 1-1.
Roberts and Erickson made it 2-1 with a 21-12, 21-16 win in the No. 5 slot and Perez and Svobodova were able to clinch the dual win with a 21-15, 21-11 victory on court three.
Pepperdine was not done either, as Clermont and Thomas put the cherry on top after battling back from a 21-19 first set loss to win the second 21-13 in the No. 1 position. The pair battled through a tight third set, but were victorious with a 16-14 result.
On Saturday, In the first dual, the Waves came ready to play and took first set wins on all three courts in the first flight.
Madison Oriskovich and
Kristine Briede then continued on to win their match in the No. 2 position, 21-14, 21-13, to put the Waves on the board.
Gracie Pedersen and
Kaydon Meyers made it 2-0 with a 22-20, 21-19 win in the No. 4 slot to put Pepperdine in a good position heading into the final flight.
Aubrey Roberts and
Emi Erickson also won 21-15, 21-16 in the No. 6 position.
In the No. 1 position,
Kate Clermont and
McKenna Thomas clinched the dual for the home squad, collecting a pair of 21-16 set scores. Though Utah took court five to put a point on the board as well.
After
Gabriella Perez and
Sarlota Svobodova won the first set, 21-19, Utah collected on the second 21-18 to force a third. The Waves would remain composed, however, and continue on to a 15-11 third set win to make the final 4-1 overall.
In the second dual, Pepperdine continued on with first set wins on all courts. Oriskovich and Briede finished first with a 21-10, 21-5 victory in the No. 2 position before Pedersen and Meyers downed their court four opposition 21-12, 21-13.
Roberts and Erickson would do the honors with the clinch on court five, amassing a 21-11, 21-5 win. Clermont and Thomas were close behind with a 21-12, 21-10 win in the No. 1 slot to make it 4-0 overall and Perez and Svobodova completed the sweep with a 21-15, 21-8 victory in the No. 3 position.
WAVE REPORT: Pepperdine has gone 19-14 overall this season, with a 11-3 record at home, 0-3 output on the road and 8-8 record on neutral sand.
Kate Clermont and
McKenna Thomas have played together most recently in the No. 1 position, collecting on a 19-12 record for the Waves.The main pair at the No. 2 position has been
Kristine Briede and
Madison Oriskovich as they've posted a record of 21-9 in the slot No. 2 and a season record of 23-10.
Gabbie Perez and
Sarlota Svobodova have been the mainstay on court number three having earned a winning record of 16-11. Court four has seen mostly
Gracie Pedersen and
Kaydon Meyers compete together where they have collected a record of 13-13. Slot No. 5 has seen multiple pairs compete,
Emi Erickson and
Maya McNabney have gone 11-4 in that position while Erickson and
Aubrey Roberts have posted a record of 6-5 on court five.
OPPONENTS: In order of seed: LMU (24-13),
Pepperdine (19-14), Saint Mary's (16-14), Santa Clara (11-17), San Francisco (10-18), Portland (10-11) Pacific (0-27).
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.
