While college and professional football have begun to take the country by storm, Pepperdine University and the surrounding Malibu community are preparing for another exciting fall season of Waves sports.
The Pepperdine women’s soccer and volleyball teams open up their respective seasons with much anticipation and excitement.
Women’s soccer
Coming off a 2014 campaign where they advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, the Pepperdine women’s soccer team begins its new season at home on Aug. 21 against CSUN at 3 p.m.
The Waves finished 16-3-4 a year ago and in third place in the West Coast Conference (WCC). Pepperdine ended the year No. 10 in the national poll and will pick up where they left off as the 10th ranked team entering 2015.
Despite losing All-American Lynn Williams (now playing with the NWSL Western New York Flash) and WCC first-team selection Ally Holtz to graduation, Pepperdine returns with the top-ranked goalkeeper in the conference, junior Hannah Seabert.
Seabert’s 0.614 goals against average and eight shutouts were tops in the WCC. She will have to be at her best as Pepperdine plays a tough gauntlet of strong opponents early on, including NCAA runner-up and No. 2 ranked Virginia at home on Sept. 6, at No. 4 UCLA on Sept. 17, and at home vs. No. 14 Wisconsin on Aug. 28.
“We are really excited about our fall schedule because we know it is going to require our very best effort and quality to navigate it successfully,” Pepperdine coach Tim Ward said. “Our philosophy at Pepperdine has always been to challenge ourselves against the top programs in the country — both to provide a platform for our wonderful student-athletes to perform upon, but also so that we become an attractive candidate to the NCAA selection committee when the postseason rolls around.”
Ward is one win away from capturing his 200th victory in his illustrious career. He has guided the Waves to four seasons of 15 or more wins during his 17-year tenure at Pepperdine. Last year’s 16 wins marked the second most in program history as Pepperdine reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2005 and had only its third Sweet 16 appearance ever.
In the most recent WCC preseason poll, Pepperdine was picked third behind defending champion Brigham Young and Santa Clara. Along with Seabert, the Waves bring back WCC Freshman of the Year Hailey Harbison as they seek their third WCC title (2002, 2011).
Women’s volleyball
The Waves swing into action, hosting the annual Pepperdine Asics Classic inside Firestone Fieldhouse Aug. 28-29. Joining Pepperdine in the two-day event will be Alabama, Incarnate Word, UC Santa Barbara and Utah Valley.
Pepperdine will play Incarnate Word at 12 p.m. and Utah Valley at 7 p.m. on Aug. 28, and UC Santa Barbara (12 p.m.) and Alabama (6 p.m.) the following day.
Pepperdine alum Scott Wong begins his first year at the helm, replacing Troy Tanner, who resigned after just one year on the job. Wong played for the Waves from 1998-2001 and was a three-time All-American. He was also an assistant to Pepperdine men’s coach Marv Dunphy from 2005-2009.
“Pepperdine offers a very unique atmosphere and my vision for the program is to not only teach these young ladies volleyball, but to help encourage their faith and growth as individuals,” Wong, previously the women’s associate coach at Hawaii since 2010, said. “I’m excited about the team, the relationships and the community. I’m eager to begin building on the foundation the coaches who have been there before have laid.”
Wong inherits a program that went 12-18 overall and 7-11 (seventh place) in the WCC last year. Senior setter Becca Strehlow returns as the Waves catalyst. She is a two-time All-WCC honorable mention recipient in 2013 and 2014.
Wong will be in search of regaining the pride and winning touch left behind by Nina Matthies, who coached the Waves for 31 years from 1983-2013. Matthies was recently elected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame where she will be inducted in December.