Waves Split Opening Day

Friday, February 21

Malibu, Calif.

9:00 a.m. PT

Pepperdine University

Vanguard

Photo by: Kelly Nugent

2/21/2025 4:08:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball

Box vs. Vanguard Box vs. CSUB

By: By Athletic Communications

MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine beach volleyball team split their duals on opening day as the Waves swept the Vanguard Lions in the morning before falling 3-2 to CSU Bakersfield in the afternoon.

With the win over Vanguard, head coach Marcio Sicoli earned his 100th career win at the helm of the program.

RESULTS
Pepperdine def. Vanguard 5-0
No. 1. Kate Clermont/McKenna Thomas (PEPP) def. Thea Snider/Emma Galloway (VAN) 21-15, 21-12
No. 2 Madison Oriskovich/Emma Eden (PEPP) def. Paige Cutwright/Madison Arnold (VAN) 21-7, 16-21, 15-13
No. 3. Emma Bubelis/Ella Foti (PEPP) def. Katie Alexander/Anne Mayfield (VAN) 21-23, 21-17, 15-13
No. 4. Gabriella Perez/Marley Johnson (PEPP) def. Cassie VanOyen/Gianna Pecile (VAN) 21-7, 20-22, 15-11
No. 5. Bella Avelar/Emi Erickson (PEPP) def. Logan Daniels/Natalie Hill (VAN) 21-15, 21-10

Order of finish: 4, 2, 5*, 1, 3

CSU Bakersfield def. Pepperdine 3-2
No. 1. Kate Clermont/McKenna Thomas (PEPP) def. Sarah Martin/Katey Milne (CSUB) 21-8, 21-6
No. 2 Madison Oriskovich/Emma Eden (PEPP) def. Paola Caten/Olivia Silacci-Jensen (CSUB) 21-16, 21-11
No. 3. Ella Erteltova/Vivi Kaelin (CSUB) def. Gabriella Perez/Marley Johnson (PEPP) 21-19, 21-10
No. 4. Ella Ensign/Vianna Garcia (CSUB) def. Emma Bubelis/Ella Foti (PEPP) 18-21, 21-19, 17-15
No. 5. Bailey Combs/Brooklyn Thomas (CSUB) def. Bella Avelar/Emi Erickson (PEPP) 22-20, 21-19

Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 5, 3*

VANGUARD RECAP
In the first match of the year, Pepperdine jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of three-set victories. On court No. 4, Gabriella Perez (Loomis, Calif.) and Marley Johnson (Stuart, Fla.) took the first set in dominant fashion (21-7) before Vanguard forced an all-deciding third set. The Waves duo then rebounded and took the final set 15-11 to put Pepperdine in front 1-0. On court two, Madison Oriskovich (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Emma Eden (Albuquerque, N.M.) also won their first set 21-7, but the Lions took the second set 21-16 to force a third. Oriskovich and Eden bounced back to put the Waves in front 2-0 with a 15-13 victory in the deciding set.

In slot No. 5, Emi Erickson (Honolulu, Hawai'i) and Bella Avelar (North Hollywood, Calif.) clinched the dual for the Waves and gave them their first victory of the season with a 21-15, 21-10 straight-set victory.

On court one, Kate Clermont (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) and McKenna Thomas (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) started their campaign strong and put Pepperdine up 4-0 with a 21-15, 21-12 two-set victory.

In the fifth slot, Emma Bubelis (Northbrook, Ill.) and Ella Foti (Madison, Wis.) fell behind one set to none, dropping a close first set 21-23. However, the duo rebounded and won the second set 21-17 before grinding out a 15-13 win in the third to secure the court and complete the 5-0 sweep in the season opener.

CSU BAKERSFIELD RECAP
In the second dual, Pepperdine came out swinging and took an early 1-0 lead as Oriskovich and Eden earned their second win of the day with a 21-16, 21-11 straight-set victory on court two. In position No. 4, Bubelis and Foti won their first set 21-18, but the Roadrunners duo fought back and won the next two sets to tie the match up 1-1 after the first flight.

In the second flight, Clermont and Thomas picked up right where they left off as the No. 1 duo collected their second win of the day with a dominant 21-8, 21-6 two-set victory to put the Waves back in front 2-1. CSU Bakersfield would gut out a 22-20, 21-19 win on court five to knot things up 2-2 before the Roadrunners won court three in straight-sets (21-19, 21-10) to take the dual and defeat the Waves 3-2.

UP NEXT
The Waves will finish the Pepperdine Challenge tomorrow as they welcome #9 California and #10 Long Beach State to Malibu for a pair of matches. The match against the Bears will begin at 9 a.m., while the match against the Beach will start at 1 p.m. Live stats can be found on the Pepperdine beach volleyball schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.

FOLLOW
Follow @WavesBeachVB on Facebook and X for immediate updates, results and more. Go to PepperdineWaves.com for all information, releases and schedules. Find the Waves on Instagram @peppbeachvolley.