MALIBU, Calif.  —  The Pepperdine beach volleyball team swept UTEP on Saturday morning to finish the Malibu Invite a perfect 3-0.
 
The Waves (5-6) swept courts two, three and five against the Miners (8-5) en route to their third victory of the weekend. Also this weekend, McKenna Thomas and Kate Clermont each collected their 75th career win as a Wave, a feat that only 11 players in program history have achieved.
 
RECAP
Gabriella Perez (Loomis, Calif.) and Madision Oriskovich (Santa Barbara, Calif.) cruised to a 21-11 set one win on court two before finding themselves down 15-16 in the second set. From there, the Waves duo rattled off six straight points to win the court and put the Waves in front 1-0. In slot No. 4, Emma Bubelis (Northbrook, Ill.) and Marley Johnson (Stuart, Fla.) also took their first set by a score of 21-15, but the Miners forced a third with a 21-14 win in the second. In the final set, the Waves duo jumped out to a 7-3 lead and never looked back as they took the court 15-6 and put Pepperdine up 2-0 after the first flight.
 
In position No. 5, Emi Erickson (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Deanie Woodruff (Point Loma, Calif.) clinched the duel for the Waves with a two-set victory, 21-19, 21-13. Emma Eden (Albuquerque N.M.) and Ella Foti (Madison, Wis.) then made it 4-0 with another Waves two-set win on court three, 21-12, 21-12. Over in slot No. 1, Kate Clermont (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) and McKenna Thomas (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) dropped their first set 12-21, but the duo battled back and won a highly-contested second set 22-20 to force a third. In the third, Clermont and Thomas were able to complete the sweep for the Waves with a 15-12 win. With their win, not only did the Waves No. 1 pair finish the weekend 3-0, but they both collected their 75th career individual win and are now in the top-10 on the Waves individual career wins list.
 
RESULTS
Pepperdine def. UTEP 5-0
No. 1. Kate Clermont/McKenna Thomas (PEPP) def. Krista Paegle/Paulina Acuna (UTEP) 12-21, 22-20, 15-12
No. 2  Madison Oriskovich/Gabriella Perez (PEPP) def. Madison Hill/Ema Uskovic (UTEP) 21-11, 21-16
No. 3. Emma Eden/Ella Foti (PEPP) def. Marian Ovalle/Mila Popovic (UTEP) 21-12, 21-12
No. 4. Emma Bubelis/Marley Johnson (PEPP) def. Averie Threet/Kennedy Llewellyn (UTEP) 21-15, 14-21, 15-6
No. 5. Emi Erickson/Deanie Woodruff (PEPP) def. Emma Schubert/Lauren Perry (UTEP) 21-19, 21-13
 
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5*, 3, 1
 
UP NEXT
The Waves will remain in Malibu and will host the Asics Classic next weekend. Pepperdine will take South Florida and Concordia on Friday before facing off against Vanguard and South Florida on Saturday.
 
FOLLOW
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