Pepperdine women’s golf seeded 3rd in NCAA Regional
The Pepperdine University women’s golf team, ranked No. 7 in the nation, earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Central Regional. The Waves will travel to Bryan, Texas, where they will compete at the Traditions Club at Texas A&M May 11-13.
Three regional tournaments will be conducted to determine the NCAA Championships field. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each region to the championships on May 23-26 in Columbus, Ohio.
Led by junior Eileen Vargas, Pepperdine enters regional play seeking its seventh NCAA Championships appearance in the last eight years. Last year the team finished fourth in regional play and fourth in the NCAA Championships.
UCLA men’s volleyball beats Pepperdine in MPSF semifinal
The Pepperdine University men’s volleyball team will not get a chance to defend its 2005 national title this year in the NCAA Championship. The squad fell to UCLA, 3-0 (30-26, 30-28, 30-23), last Thursday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal match, ending the Waves’ season.
The Bruins beat Pepperdine after five consecutive losses to the Waves, including last year’s national championship match. UCLA went on to win the MPSF title on Saturday and will compete against Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in the national semifinal on Thursday.
Pepperdine (17-8) received a match-high 21 kills from junior John Parfitt, 12 from freshman Paul Carroll and nine from senior Andy Hein, who ended his collegiate career as a two-time all MPSF first team player.
Pepperdine baseball sweeps Portland, moves to 1st in WCC
The Pepperdine University baseball team capped off a three-game sweep over Portland Sunday with an 8-0 win. The victory put the Waves in sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference, with a one-game lead as of Tuesday over Saint Mary’s and San Francisco with six games remaining.
In Sunday’s win, Pepperdine (30-16) senior right-hander James Johnson pitched eight innings while giving up just two hits and retiring the final 14 batters he faced. The performance, which took place in front of the home crowd on Senior Day, was the best of Johnson’s career.
One day earlier, Pepperdine beat Portland, 10-2, to give head coach Steve Rodriguez the 100th victory of his career. This is Rodriguez’ third season with the Waves.
Pepperdine opened the series with an 8-7 win. In that game, the Waves held off a ninth inning rally by Portland in which the Pilots scored six runs.
Pepperdine was scheduled to play against Long Beach State on Tuesday after The Malibu Times went to print. This weekend the team will take on Gonzaga in a three-game series.
-Jonathan Friedman