Pepperdine hires men’s basketball coach
Pepperdine Sports Information
Vance Walberg
Pepperdine University announced Tuesday that Fresno City College coach Vance Walberg has been hired as the Waves’ new men’s basketball coach. He replaces Paul Westphal, who resigned last month after five seasons on the job.
A former high school basketball coach, Walberg spent the past four years at Fresno City College, where he compiled a 133-11 record, including a perfect 34-0 mark and the California State Championship in 2005.
This past season, Fresno went 33-6 and advanced to the semifinals of the state championships before falling 71-67 to Fullerton College.
“He [Walberg] has a proven track record of developing winning programs at both the high school and junior college levels and I am confident he can build upon the great tradition that Pepperdine men’s basketball has enjoyed throughout its history,” Pepperdine Athletics Director John Watson said in a press release.
Walberg and his wife, Rose, will be officially introduced at a 12:30 p.m. press conference at Pepperdine.
Pepperdine volleyball wins regular season finale
The Pepperdine University men’s volleyball team beat USC in three games (30-21, 30-23, 30-19) on Saturday night to secure a No. 3 seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament and a first-round home match.
Pepperdine’s (16-7, 15-7 MPSF) offense hit at a .411 clip. Senior Andy Hein had 10 kills with seven blocks and six digs. Junior Tanner Sutherland finished with 12 kills and junior John Parfitt had 11.
Pepperdine will host Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the first round of the MPSF Tournament. Northridge has an 18-10 record and split its season series with Pepperdine. If the Waves win, they will go on to the semifinals on April 27 in Irvine. The championship match is the next day.
Tickets for Saturday’s match are $10 for adults and $5 for children. They can be purchased through Friday by calling 866.WAVE.TIX from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or in person at Firestone Fieldhouse. Walk-up tickets will be sold the day of the match beginning at 6 p.m.
Pepperdine men’s tennis wins and loses in Texas
The Pepperdine University men’s tennis team concluded its regular season in Texas, falling to the University of Texas on Friday and defeating Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Waves’ defeat on Friday marked just their second loss of the season. And the win on Saturday was their 27th of the year.
The Waves compete from Friday to Sunday at the West Coast Conference Championships in Moraga, Calif.
Pepperdine baseball sweeps Santa Clara
The Pepperdine University baseball team improved to 5-4 in the West Coast Conference and 24-15 overall with a three game sweep over Santa Clara.
Senior second baseman David Uribes hit his 300th hit of his career in Saturday’s season finale, as the Waves won 6-2. Uribes’ hit was a fourth-inning RBI single. He became just the second player in Pepperdine history to record 300 hits. Paul Faries is the school’s all-time hits leader with 314.
In Thursday’s series opener, sophomore right-hander Barry Enright pitched seven-plus scoreless innings, giving up six hits, walking two and striking out four players. His performance earned him WCC Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Enright was perfect through four innings of the game, retiring 12 consecutive batters and faced just two batters over the minimum through seven innings before allowing three consecutive singles to begin the eighth.
The Waves won the game, 9-4.
Enright is 7-1 this season with a 4.28 ERA. Six of his wins have come against ranked opponents.
Pepperdine won on Friday, 3-0
The Waves played against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday after The Malibu Times went to print. The team plays against San Diego this weekend in a three-game home series.
-Jonathan Friedman