Local water polo club competes in tournament
The Malibu Water Polo Club’s 16 and under team participated in the Winterfest Tournament at Huntington Beach High School on Feb. 11 and 12, marking the first time Malibu has sent a 16 and under team to the tournament. The Malibu Water Polo Club formed its first ever 16 and under team this past winter with former Malibu High School student Hayden Goldberg, who played on the water polo team and swim club, as the team’s coach.
At the tournament, the boys, who have been playing together for four years, played four games, won three of four and placed ninth overall.
OLM basketball team concludes winning season
The Our Lady of Malibu girls varsity basketball team finished third in the Valley Catholic Sports League, Division 1. With tenacious defense from Tatiana Consentino, Chanel Lake and Carolyn Pushaw, aggressive rebounding by Stephanie Pushaw and Amanda Davis, and offensive power from Gina Rogari, the Lady Bulldogs achieved a record of 5-4, the best in Our Lady of Malibu girls basketball history.
Pepperdine women’s tennis remains undefeated
The No. 23 Pepperdine women’s tennis team defeated UC San Diego, 5-2, Saturday at San Diego’s West Tennis Courts. The win increased the Waves’ record to a perfect 8-0.
In doubles, Pepperdine beat the Toreros in all three matches. Sophomore Sylvia Kosakowski and senior Merve Asimigil defeated Emma Murphy and Lauren Perl, 8-6, while No. 20 junior Eva Dickes and sophomore Bianca Dulgheru beat Jenny Brown and Helen Lindstrand, 8-7. Senior Natalie Braverman and sophomore Jelena Jovic defeated Brittany Reitz and Sophia Vogt, 8-3, in the No. 3 position.
Kosakowski, Dickes, Asimgil and Jovic all garnered wins in singles.
The Waves will play No. 4 USC on Wednesday.
Pepperdine men’s volleyball wins two on the road
The Pepperdine University men’s volleyball team easily defeated its opponents last week in two road matches against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opponents.
The Waves (10-3) swept Pacific on Wednesday, 3-0 (30-20, 30-23, 30-25), and then beat Stanford, 3-1 (30-26, 30-24, 27-30, 31-29), on Saturday.
Senior Andy Hein led Pepperdine in the two matches with 22 kills on 30 swings with just two errors in hitting at a 66.7 percent clip. He averaged 1.43 blocks per game. Hein was named MPSF Player of the Week.
The Waves conclude their three-match road trip on Wednesday against UCLA in a rematch of last year’s national championship.
Pepperdine baseball wins tough series
The No.9 Pepperdine men’s baseball team defeated No. 8 Tulane, 9-5, on Sunday, clinching the series victory and improving its record against ranked opponents to 5-2.
Sophomore right fielder Donald Brown went 4-for-4 with a career-high three runs and five RBI, helping the Waves improve to 8-6 on the season.
Brown’s performance in Sunday’s game capped off a successful week in which he was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week. In the three-game series against Tulane, Brown batted .636 with five runs scored and seven RBI. He had a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base percentage for the series.
The Waves gathered a season-high 16 hits in Sunday’s game with juniors Chad Tracy and Danny Worth, each with three hits, and senior second baseman David Uribes and freshman third baseman Chase d’Arnaud with two hits a piece.
Sophomore right-hander Barry Enright pitched six innings, allowing nine hits and five runs, while walking two men and striking out five.
Freshman right-hander Brett Hunter struck out a career-high five batters in three innings, recording his third save of the season.
The Waves played Cal State Fullerton Tuesday at Eddy D. Field Stadium after The Malibu Times went to print.
Stars come out to view the Waves
By Seth Rubinroit /
Special to The Malibu Times
It’s hard to imagine one college basketball player could attract former NBA star Reggie Miller, Kobe Bryant with his wife and baby and numerous NBA scouts to Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse.
But after watching Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison play against the Waves, it is clear he is more than just your average college basketball star. “Big time,” said Laker and former Gonzaga star Ronny Turiaf, who sat behind the Gonzaga bench at the game.
“There’s nothing else to say about him [Morrison]. Big time.” Morrison and Duke’s J.J. Redick are locked in a battle to prove who is the best college basketball player in the nation. This season they have been trading 40-point games.
What separates Morrison is his 6-foot-8-inch NBA body and his quick first step, which has allowed him to become more than just a sharpshooter.
Lately, Morrison has been hitting jump shots off the dribble and taking the ball to the basket. “He’s a good player,” said Pepperdine forward Cody Horning, who was given the challenge of guarding Morrison. “He isn’t the leading scorer in the nation for nothing. He’s pretty quick off the dribble, you can’t give him an easy shot. But other than that, he’s just like guarding any other player.”
The Waves did a good job guarding Morrison. He was held under his season averages in points, rebounds and assists.
“[Morrison] is not going to hit eight out of 10 threes every night,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “I expect him to have some off games.”
Gonzaga, ranked fifth in the nation, is not a one-man team. Center J.P. Batista has been a dominant low-post threat, and guard Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes gives Gonzaga another shooter to take some of the pressure off Morrison. Gonzaga has already beaten upper-echelon schools such as Michigan State, Washington State and Oklahoma State.
“[Gonzaga] definitely has a chance to do some big things in the [NCAA] tournament, as long as they execute and play together,” said Laker guard Devin Green after watching Gonzaga play.
Despite all of Gonzaga’s success, Pepperdine, which is 7-18 this season, didn’t play as if the team was intimidated. The Waves began the game on a 17-8 run before Morrison heated up at the end of the first half and Gonzaga pulled ahead for an 81-71 win.
“Pepperdine played us tough,” Few said. “They played us physical and got after us a bit, and we played like a frustrated team most of the night.”
Despite the loss in their final home game of the season, the Pepperdine players were excited about the big crowd, and the exposure they got from playing on national TV on ESPN2. “With Kobe here, it made my night,” said Pepperdine center Russell Hicks.
Center Derick Grubb added, “I always love playing on TV. It’s fun. My momma gets to see me!”
Seth Rubinroit is currently a freshman at Malibu High School and writes sports for LA Youth and TheSportsGod.com.