MSN031518

malibusurfsidenews.com Sports
Malibu surfside news | March 15, 2018 | 35
Pepperdine Athletics
Waves beach volleyball holds on to win streak at East Meets West Challenge
Pepperdine’s beach volleyball
team continued its
eight-match winning streak
as it closed out the East
Meets West Challenge Sunday,
March 11, at Manhattan
Beach Pier.
The Waves had tough
matches against No. 9 LSU
and No. 13 FIU but prevailed
with a pair of hardfought
3-2 wins.
In the first match of the
day against LSU, the Waves
lost first sets on four courts
for the Tigers to pull ahead
early. On Court 2, Deahna
Kraft and Corinne Quiggle
stayed tough for a pair of
21-13 set wins to set the
tone and put the Waves up
early on the day. LSU then
took the match on Court 3
to make it 1-1.
The Waves on Courts 1,
4 and 5 battled out second
set wins to force third sets
and stay alive in the match.
Skylar Caputo and Alexis
Filippone won the first
third set to give Pepperdine
the advantage again with a
17-21, 21-19, 15-11 win in
the No. 4 position.
Brook Bauer and Madalyn
Roh hung tough in the
No. 1 position. After dropping
the first set 21-17, the
Waves battled back for a
23-21 second set win. The
pair then clinched the overall
match with a 15-10 third
set win for the Waves. LSU
closed up the morning with
a 15-13 final set win on
Court 5 to make it 3-2.
Against FIU, the Waves
came out strong on three
courts after securing first
set wins on Courts 2-4.
Heidi Dyer and Gigi Hernandez
rolled past their opponents
on Court 3 with a
21-8, 21-9 win to put the
Waves on the board. Caputo
and Filippone followed
with their 12th-consecutive
win of the season with a 22-
20, 21-7 victory for a 2-0
Waves’ lead.
Kraft and Quiggle
clinched the overall win
with a 21-17, 21-9 win in
the No. 2 slot and put Pepperdine
up 3-0. After falling
in the first set on Courts
1 and 5, the Waves battled
back to force third sets on
each court. Despite big efforts,
FIU picked up the
third set wins to make it a
3-2 final dual score.
On Saturday, March 10,
Pepperdine opened the
challenge by collecting a
4-1 win over No. 5 Florida
State and a sweep over No.
20 TCU.
Pepperdine also downed
seventh-ranked Long
Beach State 3-2 at LBSU
on March 7.
Additionally, Caputo
and Filippone garnered
both American Volleyball
Coaches Association
and VolleyMob beach pair
of the week honors, the
university announced on
March 6.
As of March 12, the duo
had a perfect 12-0 record.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Stefani continues to shine
for Waves
Pepperdine commanded
a 6-1 non-conference victory
against University of
Pennsylvania at Ralphs-
Straus Tennis Center
Thursday, March 8.
The Waves (8-1) clinched
the match over Penn (5-8)
with a two-set win (6-2,
6-3) by Luisa Stefani on
Court 1 over Lina Qostal.
Stefani has an untarnished
4-0 dual record.
In doubles action, the
Waves pulled ahead on
Courts 1 and 2. Ashley
Lahey and Dzina Milovanovic
had a 6-2 victory on
Court 2 to give Pepperdine
the advantage. Then, on
Court 1, Stefani and Evgeniya
Levashova went 6-3
to secure the doubles point
heading into singles.
Although the Waves had
the advantage, a withdrawal
on Court 6 resulted in the
Quakers tying the action
heading into singles play.
Pepperdine was dominating
on all other five courts,
however, winning all first
sets of action. On Court 2,
Levashova went 6-0, 6-1,
and Milovanovic was good
for a 6-0, 6-3 win on Court
4 to put the Waves in a position
to clinch.
Pepperdine did just that
as Stefani went 6-2, 6-3
in the No. 1 position. The
Waves then collected wins
on Courts 3 and 5 to close
the day 6-1 in the Waves’
favor.
Stefani, who is ranked
No. 28 in the Oracle/ITA
singles rankings, also garnered
her 10th-career West
Coast Conference singles
player of the week honor
last week. It was the second
of the season for Stefani.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK
Two Waves record all-time
Top 5 finishes
Scottie Sandlin and Kevin
Maeda turned in a pair of
fourth-place finishes, and
Sheridan Davis and Brandon
Davis posted times
good for the program’s alltime
Top 5 lists as the Pepperdine
men’s and women’s
track teams competed at a
rainy Ben Brown Invitational
Saturday, March 10.
Sandlin, a freshman, was
fourth in the women’s 400
meters, and was followed by
fellow freshman Taleah Phillips
in fifth place.
Maeda, a senior, was
fourth in the men’s mile.
Sophomore Jalen Frantal
came in fifth.
Freshman Sheridan Davis
took sixth in the women’s
100 hurdles with a
time of 16.30, putting her
at No. 5 on the Waves’ alltime
Top 5 in the event.
Sheridan Davis was also
sixth in the 100 meters.
The Waves’ best-finishing
female runners in the
other events were Sandlin
in the 200, freshman Cassidy
Aberson in the 800 and
freshman Lindsay Sanger
in the mile.
Freshman Brandon Davis
had a PR and took
eighth place in the men’s
400 with a time of 52.36,
keeping him at No 4 on that
event’s Top 5.
Sophomore Treet Allison
was fifth in the 800 meters.
MEN’S GOLF
Waves tie for 6th
Pepperdine’s Clay Feagler
posted his fourth Top 6
finish in his last four events
to lead the men’s golf team
to a tie for sixth place at
the prestigious Southern
Highlands Collegiate on
Wednesday, March 7.
Feagler tied for third
place with a 5-under 211
(68-72-71). He had 12 birdies
over the three days.
Sophomore Joshua Mc-
Carthy had Pepperdine’s
best round at 2-under, moving
him up to a tie for 16th
place with an even-par 216
(73-73-70). He had a teambest
13 birdies overall.
Junior Sahith Theegala
took 19th place with
a 1-over 217 (73-73-71).
His best round of the tournament,
1-under, featured
four birdies, including
ones on 17 and 18 to end it.
Theegala’s 55th career below-par
round moved him
into a tie for second place
on the Waves’ all-time list
with coach Michael Beard.
The Waves posted wins
over Alabama, Illinois,
UCLA and BYU and tied
Oklahoma. Three Top 10
and four Top 20 teams finished
ahead of Pepperdine,
and all six are in the Top 40.
The Waves finished eight
shots out of first place.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Waves fall 3-1 at UCLA
The men’s volleyball
team fell 3-1 to UCLA in
Pauley Pavilion March 7,
with the Bruins winning after
securing 25-17, 17-25,
26-24 and 25-17 set scores.
David Wieczorek —
who leads the conference
in points/set, aces/set and
kills/set and is second in
hitting percentage — had
16 kills, .419 hitting percentage,
three digs and two
blocks (one solo).
Robert Mullahey — who
is second in the conference
in assists/set — had 37 assists
and eight digs.
BASEBALL
Pepperdine faces CSUN
The baseball team scored
four first-inning runs and
added two more in the
third, more than enough
for Wave ace Wil Jensen
as he struck out six during
the Waves’ 6-1 victory over
CSUN Friday, March 9, at
Eddy D. Field Stadium.
On Sunday, March 11,
Pepperdine used another
strong pitching performance
to take Game 1 of
a doubleheader 3-2 against
CSUN, but couldn’t complete
the three-game series
sweep as the Waves gave
up four homers in game
two and lost to the Matadors
8-4.
Five Waves had multiple
hits in Game 2 on Sunday.
Information from Pepperdine
University and www.pepper
dinewaves.com. Compiled
by Editor Lauren Coughlin,
lauren@malibusurfsidenews.
com.