Pepperdine rolls past Warrior volleyball team

Advertiser Staff

Relying on accurate passes and powerful outside hitting, the Pepperdine volleyball team stopped Hawai'i in four games for the second consecutive night in the Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.

This time, the scores were 30-22, 30-23, 30-32, 30-25.

In winning their eighth consecutive match, the No. 2-ranked Waves surged into first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Waves are 20-4 overall and 15-2 in the MPSF. UCLA, ranked No. 1 nationally, is 22-3 and 14-2. The Warriors, ranked third and playing their eighth consecutive road match this month, fell to 15-6 and 12-4.

The Warriors have six matches remaining, all at home, beginning with Friday's match against UC Irvine. The Warriors already are assured a berth in the conference's eight- team playoffs, but they must finish in the top four to serve as host for a first-round match. The highest remaining seed serves as host to both the semifinals and championship match.

But first, UH coach Mike Wilton said, "We have to do a better job serving and get more efficiency from our outside hitters."

UH's Costas Theocharidis slammed a match-high 29 kills, including 15 in Game 4, but the other three outside hitters combined for 15 kills.

The Warriors could not contain the Waves' perimeter offense. Lance Walker buried 21 kills and freshman Sean Rooney added 20.