Enjoying its best season since 2003, the Pepperdine women’s volleyball program hopes to keep the good times rolling this weekend when it hosts first and second round NCAA tournament action at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels, the California Golden Bears and the Missouri State Bears.
Pepperdine (22-6) will play Missouri State (22-8) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. North Carolina (23-8) will play California (26-6) at 5 p.m.
The winners of the two matches will play on Friday at 7 p.m,. with the overall winner advancing to the Honolulu Regional on Dec. 9-11.
Pepperdine earned the right to host the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002 after compiling a 15-1 record in conference play en route to the West Coast Conference title. The WCC title was their first since 2003.
The Waves are getting a lot of help from their veterans. Senior outside hitter Kim Hill was recently named the WCC Player of the Year and was joined by teammates Lilla Frederick and Kellie Woolever on the WCC first-team. Teammate Samantha Cash was also honored as the WCC Freshman of the Year.
Nina Matthies earned her tenth Coach of the Year honor as head coach of the Waves. She guided Pepperdine to its first NCAA postseason appearance since 2008 and 21st overall.
The Waves will face a talented Missouri State team that enters the tournament as an at-large team out of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bears finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference at 15-3, but a No. 42 RPI rating earned them the at-large bid and a seventh trip in the last nine years to the NCAA tournament. This will be the first-ever meeting between Pepperdine and Missouri State.
The teams on the other side of the bracket boast even greater success. California will be making its 10th consecutive NCAA appearance and 15th overall. The Golden Bears have won nine straight first-round matches and was the 2010 NCAA runner-up. This season they placed third in the ultra-competitive Pac-12 conference with a record of 16-6.
North Carolina heads west making its 13th NCAA appearance in its program’s history and its third in the last four years. The Tar Heels finished in third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a record of 15-5. They are 0-2 in meetings with Cal.
The 2011 NCAA Tournament concludes inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Dec. 15-17 when a national champion will be crowned. Penn State is the defending NCAA champion.
Pepperdine’s best showing was reaching the Elite Eight in 2002. Two victories this week would send the Waves to Hawaii and their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2005.