Waves Host 3 Matches in 5 Days - Pepperdine University Official Athletic Site

Waves Host 3 Matches in 5 Days

The Pepperdine women's volleyball team has a busy week with three home matches in five days, starting against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

UPCOMING Â— The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team (13-7 overall, 5-3 WCC, third place) has a busy week with three home matches in five days. It starts with a non-conference matchup against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, then West Coast Conference battles with Portland and Gonzaga on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

MATCH #21 Â— Tuesday (Oct. 30) at Firestone Fieldhouse: Pepperdine vs. UC Santa Barbara (9-14) at 5 p.m.

MATCH #22 Â— Thursday (Nov. 1) at Firestone Fieldhouse: Pepperdine vs. Portland (7-16, 0-9, eighth place) at 7 p.m.

MATCH #23 Â— Saturday (Nov. 3) at Firestone Fieldhouse: Pepperdine vs. Gonzaga (16-9, 4-5, tied for fifth place) at 1 p.m.

OPPONENT INFO Â— Pepperdine is 16-28 all-time against UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos earned a 3-0 sweep in Santa Barbara last season. UCSB has won three straight in the series, with the last Pepperdine win coming in Malibu in 2003 ... Pepperdine is 38-3 all-time against Gonzaga in a series dating back to 1987 and has won 21 in a row. The Waves are a perfect 20-0 in Malibu ... Pepperdine is 39-2 all-time against Portland in a series dating back to 1987 and has won 25 in a row. The Waves are a perfect 20-0 in Malibu. The last five meetings have all been 3-0 Pepperdine sweeps.

LAST PORTLAND MATCH Â— Back on Oct. 6, the Waves swept their way to a 30-18, 30-25, 30-21 win at the Chiles Center. Pepperdine hit .248 to Portland’s .135. Julie Rubenstein had a match-high 20 kills.

LAST GONZAGA MATCH Â— Back on Oct. 4, after dropping game on 30-19, the Waves came roaring back to win the next three, 30-14, 30-28, 30-25, at the Martin Centre. Hitting percentages were almost equal (Pepperdine had a .251-.250 edge) but eight service aces and 11 more total kills helped the Waves. Rachel Lumsden had a match-high 21 kills.

LAST WEEK Â— Pepperdine went on the road to sweep Loyola Marymount, 33-31, 30-28, 31-29, last Saturday (Oct. 27) to get back on a winning track. Though each game was close, the Waves had a sizeable edge in hitting, .222 to .148. Senior middle blocker Lecca Roberts had 13 kills and five blocks.

COACH MATTHIES SAYS Â— "Right now we’re just trying to get everyone healthy and back in the swing of things so we can finish up the second half of the conference season really well. Health is really what I’m looking and hoping for right now."

LOSING LUMSDEN Â— The Waves have played six straight matches without Rachel Lumsden, the team’s second-leading hitter, and are 3-3 without her. She has been out with a knee injury suffered at the end of the Gonzaga match on Oct. 4.

TEAM LEADERS Â— Julie Rubenstein leads in kills (4.20) and digs (3.05) ... Kiah Fiers leads in assists (12.75) ... Rachel Lumsden leads in aces (0.57) ... Cassi Chamberlain and Lecca Roberts lead in blocks (0.99).

WCC STATS Â— Pepperdine is first in the conference in hitting percentage (.275) ... Kiah Fiers is second in assists (12.75) ... Lecca Roberts is second in hitting percentage (.383) ... Rachel Lumsden is first in service aces (0.57) and 10th in points (4.32) ... Julie Rubenstein is third in points (4.85), fourth in kills (4.20) and ninth in aces (0.35) ... Cassi Chamberlain is sixth in hitting percentage (.324).

JULIE RUBENSTEIN Â— Junior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein is a leading candidate for national honors, but there’s more than just Pepperdine volleyball to talk about with her. She is a member of the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is the first person from Pepperdine to earn a spot on the national board. She was a member of the U.S. Volleyball A2 team this past summer. Rubenstein is also a returning All-WCC first team member and was a 2006 WCC All-Academic selection. Rubenstein leads the Waves with 4.2 kills and 3.1 digs per game. She has reached double-figure kills in 18 of 20 matches and has had kill-dig double-doubles 13 times. She hit two career milestones in West Virginia, surpassing the 1,000-kill and 500-dig plateaus.

NINA MATTHIES Â— Now in her 25th season as head coach of the Waves, Nina Matthies entered the 2007 season with a career record of 456-275 (.624), which includes 10 conference championships and 16 NCAA Tournament appearances. She is by far the WCC’s all-time winningest coach and is a nine-time WCC Coach of the Year. Matthies was among the world’s top players and is a member of the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame. She won two AIAW national championships as a player at UCLA.

2007 HONORS Â— Rachel Lumsden was named MVP of the Blue/Green Classic and West Coast Conference Player of the Week ... Lecca Roberts was named MVP of the Asics Classic and to the Arkansas Invitational All-Tournament team ... Julie Rubenstein was named to the all-tournament teams at the Arkansas and Texas Invitationals ... Cassi Chamberlain was named to the all-tournament teams at the Asics Classic and the Blue/Green Classic ... Kiah Fiers was named to the all-tournament teams at the Texas Invitational and the Blue/Green Classic ... Pepperdine won three non-conference tournaments: the Arkansas Clarion Inn Invitational and its own Asics Classic (both by three-way tiebreakers), and then the Blue/Green Classic.

WCC PRESEASON POLL Â— Pepperdine has been predicted to win its 11th WCC title in 2007, according to a preseason vote of the league’s coaches. After the Waves, the predicted order of finish went San Diego, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, San Francisco, Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga and Portland.

PEPPERDINE HISTORY Â— The Pepperdine women’s volleyball program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power. The Waves have advanced to postseason play 23 times in 32 seasons, including nine trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 10 seasons. Pepperdine’s best finishes in recent years came when the team made the regional final of the 2002 NCAAs, and then in 2003 the Waves set a school record with 27 victories.

2006 RECAP Â— The Waves finished with a 16-12 overall record and took second in the WCC with an 11-3 mark. Pepperdine advanced to the NCAA Championships but lost in the first round to Long Beach State. Sophia Milo, Kekai Crabbe and Julie Rubenstein earned All-WCC first team honors and Crabbe was voted WCC Defensive Player of the Year. Kiah Fiers was the WCC Freshman of the Year and also was All-WCC honorable mention. Rachel Lumsden and Kayla Walker were also on the All-Freshman team and Lumsden also claimed All-WCC honorable mention notice.

TICKETS Â— Single-match tickets to all home women’s volleyball games are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free to all Pepperdine students and faculty with a university ID.

ON THE WEB Â— Live video and live statistics will be available for all home matches at www.pepperdinesports.com. Go to the "Wave Casts" link toward the top of the page.

UP NEXT Â— The Waves play their final two regular-season road matches at San Francisco (Nov. 8) and San Diego (Nov. 10) next weekend.