MSN_101118

48 | October 11, 2018 | Malibu surfside news sports
malibusurfsidenews.com
Pepperdine Athletics
Talented Waves golfer injured, expected to redshirt
Two-time All-American
Sahith Theegala, of the
Pepperdine men’s golf
team, will sit out the fall
season with a wrist injury
and is likely to redshirt
the 2018-19 season, he announced
Oct. 3.
Plagued by the injury for
much of this year, Theegala
has been resting the wrist
and hasn’t been playing
golf as of late. He will be
assessed again in November
to determine the next
step in his recovery.
“It’s a bummer,” the
Waves’ senior said, according
to a press release.
“There’s no concrete timetable
to return with this
injury. I wanted to have
a good senior season and
turn pro, but that’s going to
wait a year. But in the long
term, it’s going to give myself
a chance to play with
a healthy body, and add to
my education.”
Through three seasons,
Theegala’s career scoring
average of 70.95 is the best
in program history. He’s
also second on the records
list for below-par rounds
with 57.
This past summer, he
played through his injury
to be part of the U.S. team
that competed at the Arnold
Palmer Cup in France.
Theegala, a sport administration
major, is to claim a
marketing minor.
Even without Theegala,
the Waves will still have
four players who were part
of the lineup for last year’s
West Coast Conference
championship, and two
freshmen have joined the
team. The WCC’s coaches
voted the Waves the favorite
for the league title again
in 2019.
“Getting Sahith healthy
is No. 1, and how that affects
the team is secondary,”
Pepperdine Coach
Michael Beard said in a release.
“After looking at the
pros and cons, it made the
most sense to Sahith to take
a year to get healthy, and
build back up for hopefully
a great senior year and an
easier transition to professional
golf. This takes away
any sense of urgency to get
healthy and maybe come
back too early and have to
start the process over.”
“It’s going to hurt us this
year. To lose a two-time
All-American from the
lineup, it’s going to hurt, no
question. But it’s best for
him, and to have him back
as a fifth-year senior next
year will be special.”
Beard said the team will
be forced to step up, but
expressed confidence in his
team’s potential.
“Our established guys
are going to need to bring
their ‘A’ game every week,”
he said. “Our sophomores
played some last year and
they need to be ready to
take the challenge on. The
freshmen are going to have
more opportunities for
playing time.”
MEN’S WATER POLO
Waves victorious vs. Long
Beach State
Pepperdine traveled to
Long Beach for the first
Golden Coast Conference
matchup with the 49ers on
Friday, Oct. 5.
The Waves came out
with a 10-8 victory, led by
hat tricks from Mate Toth
and Sam Paur.
Pepperdine had the hot
hand early, taking a quick
Waves golfer Sahith Theegala, who competed at the
Arnold Palmer Cup in France this summer, is out on a
wrist injury and is to be assessed again in November.
Luke Hendry/Arnold Palmer Cup
3-0 lead after Toth, Paur,
Chris Dilworth and George
Mooney all scored within
the first five minutes. The
49ers got two goals back
toward the end of the period,
but trailed the Waves
3-2 at the end of the first.
The 49ers scored three
in the second before Paur
completed his hat trick with
back-to-back goals to regain
the lead. Long Beach
got one more goal to tie the
game 6-6.
In the third, Curtis Jarvis
scored the lone goal for the
Waves. Long Beach also
scored one in the third, taking
the score to 7-7.
The Waves took control
in the fourth quarter, scoring
three goals. Dilworth
got his second goal of the
game to give the Waves an
8-7 lead. Toth then scored
his final two goals of the
game to all but seal the win
for the Waves. Long Beach
scored one final goal as the
clock expired, but it was
not enough.
Earlier in the week, it
was announced that Dilworth
was the GCC Player
of the Week. It was the first
such honor for Pepperdine
this year, and the first career
honor for Dilworth.
Dilworth leads the team
in goals (31), points (36),
shooting percentage (.646)
and drawn exclusions (22).
He also is fifth in the conference
standings in goals
scored.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Waves claim 3-1 victory
Pepperdine, led with
double-figure kills and
three aces apiece from outside
hitters Hannah Frohling
and Rachel Ahrens,
picked up a four-set West
Coast Conference win over
Pacific in Firestone Fieldhouse
on Thursday, Oct. 4.
The 25-20, 25-20, 17-
25, 25-11 victory puts the
Waves at 11-5 overall and
5-1 in the WCC, the best
start to a conference season
since 2011 for Pepperdine.
The Waves currently rank
second in the conference
standings this week.
Frohling — who had 16
kills, a .433 hitting percentage,
3 aces, 3 digs
and 2 blocks — has hit for
double-figure kills in nine
matches this season and 49
throughout her career. She
leads the team with 3.33
kill/set and 25 aces overall
Ahrens — who had 14
kills, a .290 hitting percentage,
3 aces, 2 digs and 5
blocks — has posted eight
matches with double-figure
kills this season and has led
the Waves’ attack in six.
Alli O’Harra had led the
Waves in blocks for the last
five-consecutive matches,
including four-of-five with
seven blocks or more.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Doubles losses seal Waves’
fate in Riviera/ITA All-
American Championships
Pepperdine tennis player
Evgeniya Levashova highlighted
the final day of the
Riviera/ITA All-American
Championships on Oct. 3
with a win in the singles
back draw at Riviera Tennis
Club.
Jessica Failla and Anastasia
Iamachkine also
had quite a doubles battle
against No. 32 Cameron
Corse and Zoe Spence, of
Notre Dame, falling just
short in a tiebreak set.
With the losses in doubles,
the Waves bow out
of the tournament. Pepperdine
will not play in singles
matches in the main draw.
WOMEN’S SWIM AND DIVE
Pepperdine starts season
at home
The Waves dove into
their season under new
head coach Joe Spahn on
Thursday, Oct. 4, hosting
San Diego State.
The Waves fell 71-53,
but the dual meet was not
without its bright spots.
In the diving portion
of the meet, Pepperdine
fielded three divers. Taylor
Basin had the best showing
for the Waves, scoring
188.75 points. Freshman
Paulina Holmberg scored
161.35 points and Lexie
Wanninger scored 126.95.
In the 200-medley relay,
Trinity Ishikawa, Julianna
Chan, Haley Bergthold and
Sammie Slater had the best
finish for the Waves, combining
for a 1 minute, 51.77
seconds.
In the 50 butterfly, freshman
Olivia Kayye made
her collegiate swimming
debut with a 27.83 — the
best time for the Waves in
the event.
In the 50 back, Slater
took second place in the
event with a 28.02 showing.
Ishikawa took fourth
with a 28.73.
Chan had a second-place
finish in the 50 breast,
swimming a 31.68, followed
closely by Bergthold
in fourth, with a 32.67.
Amy Griffin had the
Waves’ best time in the 50
freestyle, coming in fourth
place overall with a 24.67
(three-tenths off her lifetime
best), followed by
Caroline Boone in fifth
with a 25.03.
Boone, Ishikawa, Griffin
and Slater teamed up in the
200 free relay for a firstplace
finish, combining for
a 1:41.08 in the final event
of the day.
Information from Pepperdine
University and www.pepper
dinewaves.com. Compiled
by Editor Lauren Coughlin,
lauren@malibusurfsidenews.
com.