A week layoff did not dull the skills of the No. 2 Pepperdine beach volleyball team, which won its fourth straight match and second in a row over No. 4 USC on Monday.
The Waves had not played since going 3-0 at their own Pepperdine Invitational on March 31, a tournament which ended with a 4-1 victory over the Trojans.
This time, the match was a bit closer. Pepperdine won on Courts 4 and 5 to start, then USC responded with wins on Courts 1 and 3. It all came down to the No. 2 duo of Brook Bauer and Madalyn Roh, which bested USC’s Joy Dennis and Brianna Sizemore 21-13, 2-19 for the win after trailing early in Set 2. The match was Sizemore’s first since March 11 due to a lower leg injury.
The victory marked the Waves fourth over USC in 2018 following 3-2 wins on Feb. 28 and March 3 and the March 31 4-1 affair. Pepperdine is 4-0 against the Trojans since falling 3-2 in the 2017 NCAA title match.
On Monday, all five matches were completed in straight sets. Pepperdine moved to 19-3 on the year, while USC fell to 17-9.
With a win on Court 4, Pepperdine’s Skylar Caputo and Alexis Filippone moved to 21-1 on the season and won their fourth-straight match since dropping a three-setter to UCLA’s Mac May and Elisa Zappia on March 27. Caputo/Filippone are 4-0 against USC this season.
USC’s Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina are now 18-1 on Court 1 and have won nine-straight matches.
Up next for the Waves are Saturday home matches against No. 5 Cal Poly and No. 12 Arizona. Meanwhile, USC is set for a weekend stay in Seattle, where the Women of Troy will face No. 13 Cal, No. 14 Stanford, Washington and Oregon at the Pac-12 North Invitational.
#2 Pepperdine 3, #4 USC 2
1. Abril Bustamante/Tina Graudina (USC) def. Deanha Kraft/Corinne Quiggle (PEPP); 21-17, 21-15
2. Brook Bauer/Madalyn Roh (PEPP) def. Joy Dennis/Brianna Sizemore (USC); 21-13, 21-19
3. Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC) def. Heidi Dyer/Gigi Hernandez (PEPP); 21-15, 21-19
4. Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone (PEPP) def. Jenna Belton/Haley Hallgren (USC); 21-19, 21-12
5. Maddie Dilfer/Nikki Lyons (PEPP) def. Katrina Kernochan/Alexandra Poletto (USC); 21-18, 21-19
Exh: Maja Kaiser/Jo Kremer (USC) def. Jordan Ferrari/Katie Gavin (PEPP); 21-15, 21-16
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 3, 2*
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