The 2nd-ranked Pepperdine beach volleyball team had a hard-fought battle with 5th-ranked Hawai’i at Zuma Beach this Wednesdayafternoon, eventually prevailing with a 3-2 win over the Rainbow Wahine after collecting wins from the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 positions.
With a lone match on the docket in Malibu, the format was No. 4 and No. 5 teams, followed by the top-three to finish in the second wave. Pepperdine split the opening round, but picked up a quick win on court three in the second before finishing the day by splitting the top two courts for the victory.
Sophomore Anika Wilson (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos HS) and freshman Deahna Kraft (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS) opened the match with a dominating 21-11, 21-19 win over Ari Homayan and Carly Kan on court four for the Waves. The duo is now 12-2 on the season in the No. 4 position for the Waves. Wilson led the squad with 20-smashes overall, while Kraft was solid all-around with four blocks, three aces and nine-kills.
The opposition then evened the score 1-1 with a 21-19, 28-30, 15-11 victory on five as Hannah Zalopany and Iosia Norene defeated sophomore Kaity Bailey (Ojai, Calif./Villanova Preparatory School) and freshman Gigi Hernandez (Dana Point, Calif./JSerra Catholic HS). The loss was the pairs first and they now hold a 7-1 record in the No. 5-spot. Bailey finished the match with an outstanding 23-kills, while posting three blocks and two aces. Hernandez was good for five-kills as well as a strong defensive presence.
In the second wave, Pepperdine’s No. 3-pair Skylar Caputo (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) and Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) took down Emily Maglio and Laurel Weaver with a 21-15, 21-16 final mark to put the Waves up and in clinching territory. Caputo and Dyer have gone 12-2 at the No. 3 position for the team this year so far. Dyer led the duo with 16-kills and Caputo was solid with 10 for the win.
The Waves had two courts still in action with Pepperdine’s No. 2-duo,graduate student Brittany Howard (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View HS/Stanford) and junior Corinne Quiggle (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra HS), and No. 1-pair, senior Delaney Knudsen (Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS) and sophomore Madalyn Roh (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral HS) fighting it out for the win.
Howard and Quiggle had dropped the first set 21-14, but rallied in the second to earn a 21-14 win of the team’s own. The duo then crushed Nikki Taylor and Kaiwi Schucht in the third set with a 15-9 result to clinch the match for the Waves and extend the pair’s overall record to 13-1 on the season thus far. Howard tabbed 18-kills throughout the match, while putting up three blocks and an ace. Quiggle was good for 16-smashes as well as one ace.
Roh and Knudsen had a solid output on court one, falling after a well-played first-set battle 26-24 to Mikayla Tucker and Morgan Martin, before excelling towards a quick 21-12 set two win. The opposition then took the final set of the day with a 15-11 final mark. Roh and Knudsen now hold a 10-4 record in the hot-spot for Pepperdine. Roh crushed the attack effort with 28-kills in the match, while also posting one ace. Knudsen tabbed two aces and amassed 14-kills on the day.
Next, the Waves close out the home campaign with Grand Canyon and No. 6 Long Beach State at Zuma Beach on Wednesday, April 5. The first match will begin at 1 p.m. Follow @WavesBeachVB for updates and check on PepperdineWaves.com for full results, recaps and more!
March 29, 2017
Zuma Beach | Malibu, Calif.
Dual 1 – No. 2 Pepperdine vs. No. 5 Hawai’i
No. 1: Mikayla Tucker/Morgan Martin (UH) def. Delaney Knudsen/Madalyn Roh (PEPP) – 26-24, 12-21, 15-11
No. 2: Brittany Howard/Corinne Quiggle (PEPP) def. Nikki Taylor/Kaiwi Schucht (UH) – 14-21, 21-14, 15-9
No. 3: Skylar Caputo/Heidi Dyer (PEPP) def. Emily Maglio/Laurel Weaver (UH) – 21-15, 21-16
No. 4: Anika Wilson/Deahna Kraft (PEPP) def. Ari Homayan/Carly Kan (UH) – 21-11, 21-19
No. 5: Hannah Zalopany/Iosia Norene (UH) def. Kaity Bailey/Gigi Hernandez (PEPP) – 21-19, 28-30, 15-11
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 2* 1
Extra Matches:
No. 6: Hi’ilawe Huddleston/Amy Ozee (UH) def. Katty Workman/Sarah Seiber (PEPP) – 21-18, 21-18
News courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics.
Leave a Reply