A dip in the ocean never felt so good, especially with a “title” wave.
For the second time in three years, the Waves are queens of the beach. The Pepperdine women’s sand volleyball team won the 2014 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship in Gulf Shores, Alabama, last weekend in a 3-2 win over Florida State in the finals.
They celebrated in style with a splash in the Gulf of Mexico immediately following the title-clinching point.
“Moments like this just don’t come all the time, so you have to enjoy it when they do,” said Pepperdine coach Nina Matthies, who led the Waves to the inaugural championship in 2012.
In sand volleyball, each school is represented by five pairs of players. Matches are the best two-out-of-three sets and the first team to win three duals wins the overall match.
Ranked second in the country heading into championship day, Pepperdine had to first knock off No. 1 USC in the semifinals. Prior to the match, Matthies provided a few inspirational words for the team.
“Champions are champions when they need to be,” she said. “And now is our time.”
The Waves took the words to heart and bounced the Trojans from the tournament with a 3-2 victory. Partners Katie Messing and Emily Cook, Caitlin Racich and Delaney Knudsen, and Becca Strehlow and Lara Dykstra claimed wins to give Pepperdine the necessary three points to clinch the match.
An hour later, the Waves took to the courts in search of their second national championship after reaching the finals for a third consecutive year. Pepperdine lost to Long Beach State, 3-2, a year ago and was looking for redemption this time around.
No. 5 seed Sophie Asprey and Victoria Adelhelm defeated Sierra Sanchez and Hailey Luke of Florida State, 21-19, 23-21, to give the Waves the first point of the match.
Florida State then took a 2-1 lead in the championship by taking two straight duals, but the Waves’ No. 1-seeded duo of Kelley Larsen and Kellie Woolever pulled out a three-set victory (21-19, 11-21, 15-13) to tie the match.
With the national championship at stake, Strehlow and Dykstra shined on the biggest of stages. They clinched the championship with a straight-set, 24-22, 21-17 win over the Seminoles’ sister duo of Stephanie and Kristina Pellitteri.
“I thought Becca and Lara stayed real calm,” said Matthies after the contest. “We’re all real competitive and want perfection, but sometimes perfectionism doesn’t necessarily win volleyball matches, or anything in life really. But they took it point by point, stayed within themselves and didn’t panic.
“That’s a lot of pressure right there, for it to all come down to one court. I just saw what I’ve seen from them all along. They’re both really great competitors and really great players.”
Pepperdine finished the year 18-1, its lone loss at USC on March 25. It’s the only defeat the Waves have suffered during the regular season in the past three years.
The title marked Pepperdine’s 13th national championship by its teams and second by a women’s program.
For Adelhelm, Cook, Larsen, Racich and Woolever, it marked the second title of their careers.
Upon completion of the tournament, the AVCA announced that Larsen, Woolever, Strehlow and Dykstra were named All-Americans. Strehlow now joins Kim Hill as the Waves’ second student-athlete to ever achieve All-American status in both indoor and sand volleyball in a single season. Hill accomplished the feat in 2011-12.