SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – After helping the Waves go undefeated and win five games in three days, including a 3-0 record at the WCC-Big West Challenge last weekend, Erik Ionescu was named the WCC Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season.
 
Last week, the freshman attacker from Budapest, Hungary had five goals, seven assists, 12 points, four steals and two drawn exclusions. He also posted a .357 shooting percentage and won a sprint. In Thursday's game against the 13th-ranked Gauchos, Ionescu tallied two goals and four assists while posting a .500 shooting percentage.
 
In the five games last week, the Waves defeated Westcliff 20-7 and #13 UCSB 15-13 on Thursday before earning a 14-9 victory over #20 California Baptist in a non-conference matchup at the WCC-Big West Challenge on Friday. Pepperdine then capped off the weekend with a pair of 13-11 wins over #13 UCSB and CSU Fullerton at the WCC-Big West Challenge on Saturday.
 
This marks the third time a Pepperdine player has won a WCC weekly award as Jon Carcarey garnered the WCC Player of the Week and Ionescu earned the WCC Newcomer of the Week award on September 10.
 
Ionescu and the Waves return home to Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool on Saturday, September 28 for a top-10 matchup against #10 Long Beach State at noon. The first 100 fans at the game will receive a free WCC champion rally towel, and tickets to the contest can be found here.