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28 | December 21, 2017 | Malibu surfside news Sports
malibusurfsidenews.com
Pepperdine Athletics
Three Waves excel to achieve sought-after All-American honors
Two members of the
men’s water polo team and
one well-decorated member
of the women’s soccer
team nabbed All-American
honors, Pepperdine announced
last week.
Pepperdine midfielder
Bri Visalli was named a
first-team Scholar All-
American, Mark Urban
was named to the All-
American third team and
Marko Asic was an All-
American honorable mention.
Visalli, whose 3.81 GPA
is the third-best GPA on
the first team, is the second
Wave to ever earn the honor,
following Susan Palmer
in 2002.
Visalli, a senior economics
major, earned both
WCC Player of the Year
and All-American second
team honors this season.
She led the WCC in nearly
every major offensive category
this year, leading
the league in points (34),
points per game (1.62),
goals (14), goals per game
(0.67), assists (tied, 6),
game-winning goals (6)
and shots (76). She finished
the season 12th in
the country in total goals
and 13th in total points.
Visalli was also named
to the CoSIDA Academic
All-District Team earlier
this year and was on the
WCC All-Academic Team.
For her career, Visalli has
been named to the WCC
All-Academic Team three
times and the Cosida Academic
All-District Team
twice.
To be considered for
Scholar All-American
recognition by the United
Soccer Coaches, studentathletes
needed to be at
least a junior in academic
standing, maintain at least
a 3.30 cumulative GPA,
have started at least 50 percent
of their team’s games
and have been a significant
contributor to the squad.
Urban had a career year,
coming in second on the
team in points, with 83,
including 45 goals and
38 assists. He was one of
five Waves to earn All-
Golden Coast Conference
recognition, and the lone
first-team selection. This is
his second All-American
honor after being named
an honorable mention last
year. Urban was fifth in the
GCC in total points, and
ninth in goals scored.
It was Asic’s second All-
American honor after being
named to the second
team last year. He led the
Waves in both goals and
points, with 68 goals and
84 points. Asic also garnered
All-GCC honors,
being named to the second
team. He was fourth in the
GCC in goals scored, and
fifth in total points.
Asic and Urban increased
Pepperdine water
polo’s number of All-
American honorees to 96,
making it one of the most
successful programs in the
country. The two selections
also mark the second
year in a row that Pepperdine
has had two or more
All-American honorees.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Two Waves nab accolades
Pepperdine’s Bri Visalli
and Joelle Anderson were
both honored when Top-
DrawerSoccer released its
postseason Best XI teams.
Visalli was named to the
Best XI second team and
Anderson earned a spot on
the Freshman Best XI second
team.
Visalli adds the TDS
Best XI honor to a string
of national awards this
season. She has already
earned recognition as a
second-team All-American
and semifinalist for the
MAC Hermann Trophy.
Anderson is coming off a
stellar rookie campaign in
which she was named to
the All-West Region and
All-WCC second teams.
Visalli led the Waves
and WCC in nearly every
major offensive statistical
category and finished the
year 12th in the country
in total goals with 14 and
13th in the nation in total
points with 34. The soonto-be
graduating senior
picked up the program’s
first-ever WCC Player of
the Year honor this season
after helping to lead the
Waves to their first backto-back
conference championships.
Visalli also
earned All-West Region
and All-WCC first team
nods after starting every
game as a central midfielder
for Pepperdine.
She finishes her career
as the program’s record
holder in games played
(83) and games started
(81), sits seventh on the
Pepperdine career scoring
list with 25 goals and second
on the career list for
game-winning goals with
14.
Anderson finished second
on the team and fourth
in the WCC with nine
goals and matching Visalli
for the team and conference
lead with six assists.
Her breakout season took
off midway through the
year as she scored all nine
of her goals in the team’s
final 13 games, including
two-goal games at Santa
Clara and BYU, and at
home against Pacific.
The Waves finished the
year ranked No. 16 in the
United Soccer Coaches
Poll after making the program’s
10th NCAA Tournament
appearance and
playing into the second
round for the third time in
four years.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Belmont overpowers
Waves 79-62
Pepperdine hasn’t had
its expected starting lineup
for a single game this season,
and the Waves have
been without two starters
in six of the 11 games, according
to the university.
On Saturday, Dec. 16,
the team, sans two starters,
lost to Belmont, 79-62, in
Nashville.
Belmont (7-5) entered
the game as one of the
nation’s top three-point
shooting teams and improved
its season totals
by going 16-for-35. The
Waves (3-8) were 2-for-15
from distance.
Freshman guard Colbey
Ross had a team-high 14
points and made seven of
11 shots. Junior guard Eric
Cooper Jr. scored 13 off the
bench in his second game
of the season. Sophomore
forward Nolan Taylor had
nine points.
Field goal percentages
were near equal with Belmont
at 53.6 percent and
Pepperdine at 53.3 percent.
More than half of Belmont’s
shots (35 of 56)
and makes (16 of 30) were
3-pointers. The 16 made
threes were the most this
season by a Pepperdine opponent.
The Bruins made
nine in the first half and
seven in the second.
The Bruins had advantages
of 18-14 in points
off turnovers and 11-2 in
second-chance points.
Kameron Edwards, the
Waves’ leading scorer
and rebounder, missed his
second straight game due
to a concussion. Matthew
Atewe, out with a back
injury, didn’t play for the
fourth straight game.
The Waves’ total number
of player-games missed
due to injury is up to 28
this season.
Short-handed squad falls
to Long Beach State
Close, but no cigar.
Pepperdine’s men’s basketball
team was without
the team’s top scorer and
rebounder, Edwards, on
Saturday, Dec. 9, when
they fell 78-71 to Long
Beach State.
The home contest did
include previously injured
projected starter Eric Cooper
Jr., who chipped in
14 points, but Atewe and
Edwards were out. Kaijae
Yee-Stephens, who has a
knee injury, has not played
this season.
Freshman guard Trae
Berhow had a team-high
15 points on 7-for-11
shooting to go with six
rebounds. Amadi Udenyi
had five assists and moved
up to ninth place on the
Waves’ all-time assist list
with 359. Sophomore forward
Nolan Taylor had
eight points and seven rebounds,
freshman guard
Colbey Ross had eight
points and six assists, and
junior forward Darnell
Dunn made his first career
start and had seven points
and seven rebounds.
Overall, Long Beach
State outshot Pepperdine,
48.3 percent to 45.3
percent, and made more
3-pointers (eight to six)
and free throws (12 to
seven).
Pepperdine had a 39-33
rebounding edge, and 16
offensive rebounds led to
15 second-chance points.
The Waves committed
16 turnovers to the 49ers’
12, and Long Beach State
had a 23-18 edge in points
off turnovers.
The Waves scored the
game’s first four points and
led 18-14 after an Udenyi
jumper with 9:21 to go in
the first half, but the 49ers
came back to go ahead 25-
21, then 35-26 with 2:41
left. Pepperdine scored
the final nine points of the
second half to tie the game
35-35 at halftime.
The Waves never led
in the second half after
the 49ers scored the first
four points. It was a ninepoint
game at 51-42 with
14 minutes left, but the
Waves came back with
nine straight points, five
of them by Cooper, to tie
the game at 51 with 11 1/2
minutes to go.
A 13-2 Long Beach State
run over about a threeminute
span gave the 49ers
their first double-digit lead
of the game at 64-53 with
eight minutes left. The
Waves got no closer than
six the rest of the way.
Information from Pepperdine
University and www.pepper
dinewaves.com. Compiled
by Editor Lauren Coughlin,
lauren@malibusurfsidenews.
com.