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Pepperdine women’s volleyball woke up Saturday with an unbeaten streak in West Coast Conference play that extended back to the 2000 season. No current player had tasted the sour disappointment of defeat at the hands of a conference opponent.
But Saturday night, after reaching an unprecedented record of 43 consecutive wins against conference foes, Pepperdine fell to Saint Mary’s College.
The 3-1 victory was the first time in 10 years that Saint Mary’s had beaten the Waves, who now fall to 3-8 on the season and 1-1 in the WCC.
“It definitely wasn’t our best game,” sophomore libero Kekai Crabbe said.
“We helped them with so many service errors,” she said.
Sophomore outside hitter Sophia Milo had 14 kills to pace the Waves.
Saint Mary’s, off to its best start in school history at 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the WCC, got big performances from Kaui Salzman and Lindsey Bogason. Salzman led the way with 18 kills, and Bogason followed shortly behind with 17 kills of her own.
Pepperdine squandered a 6-0 run in the first game that gave it a 21-15 lead. Saint Mary’s stormed back to tie the game at 24. The Gaels won 15 of the last 21 points to take game one 30-27.
Pepperdine got off to another fast start in game two, building a 19-9 lead. Saint Mary’s once again rallied back, this time with a 13-4 run that reduced Pepperdine’s lead to one.
The Waves then appeared to have the game in control at 26-23, but the Gael’s fought back yet another time to tie the game 28-28. A kill by Milo and a hitting error by Saint Mary’s finished the game and lifted the Waves to a 1-1 tie at intermission.
Games three and four turned out to be showcases for Saint Mary’s. The Gaels, ranking 14th best in the nation with an average of more than three blocks a game, began to stifle Pepperdine’s attack.
Pepperdine hit only .049 in the third game and minus .079 in the fourth game. Saint Mary’s cruised to victories of 30-17 and 30-16.
Sophomore middle blocker Kristin McClune had another solid performance with 11 kills in the match. Junior outside hitter Katy Daly added 10 kills.
Pepperdine had four players with double digits in digs, led by Crabbe and senior libero/outside hitter Christina Hinds, who both had 16.
The Gaels inched closer in the all-time series, which Pepperdine now leads 33-2.
“We’re looking forward to get another chance to play them because we know we’re going to work harder and put forth a better effort,” Crabbe said.
The Waves began conference play with a near flawless performance against University of San Francisco.
“We executed the things we worked on in practice really well against San Francisco, but then we didn’t come out as mentally focused against Saint Mary’s.
Junior setter Melissa Mehlhorn spearheaded a Pepperdine attack that hit a season-best .381. Mehlhorn had 45 assists and 10 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Pepperdine had three players with double-digit kill totals, led by Daly’s 18. She also added 11 digs for her team-best seventh double-double of the season.
Hinds, one of the top liberos in the country, played outside hitter for the injury-plagued Waves and recorded 11 kills and only one error.
“Christina is awesome--–she’s stepped up as a leader for us wherever she plays,” Crabbe said.
Senior outside hitter Kristen Shultz had yet another steady performance with 10 kills.
Crabbe, filling in for Hinds at libero, had 12 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Kristen McClune helped limit the Dons’ offensive effectiveness with six blocks. Mehlhorn and Milo also each added four blocks on the night.
San Francisco fell to 7-10 overall and 0-1 in the WCC with the loss.
KeLicia Shorts and Kristin Hasselberg each had 10 kills to lead the Dons. Of San Francisco’s three blocks, Shorts recorded one solo and one assist for half of her team’s block production.
In game one, the Waves had 17 kills on 45 attempts and only two errors, good for a .333 hitting average. Pepperdine continued to dominate as it hit .474 in game two and .343 in game three.
San Francisco kept game one close by hitting .220, but Pepperdine still proved to be too much as it held on 30-26. Pepperdine then cruised to victories of 30-20 and 30-23 to complete the sweep. Pepperdine now leads the all-time series against San Francisco 38-1.
The Waves lone game this weekend is at Loyola Marymount University on Friday night. LMU is 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the WCC this season.
Submitted 10-07-2004
MALIBU, CA
