The Pepperdine men’s volleyball team has posted a winning record for four consecutive seasons, and Waves middle blocker Matt Tarantino wants the squad to continue that streak with a successful campaign this year.
“I expect us to compete every night and be amongst the top teams,” the 6-foot-8 senior said.
Tarantino is one of almost a dozen returning Waves from a 2015 squad that finished with a 24-6 record after losing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship game to UC Irvine.
Last season’s Pepperdine team featured five starters that had played together for four years. Those Waves have graduated.
Tarantino, a preseason All-American and a returning starter, said this year’s Waves are meshing well and trying to reach the comfort level the 2015 team had.
“In my experience, the teams that work better together are usually better than the teams that are just talented,” he said. “You can have all the talent, but it doesn’t matter if you are six individuals out there that can’t work together.”
Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy said the team is trying to reach the level of play Pepperdine volleyball is historically known for and trying to gain the efficacy last year’s starters had with receiving serves.
“In that area, we are behind,” the Waves coach of 33 seasons said, “but we work on it every minute of every day. The flipside is we have the ability to attack very well and our spiking is really good.”
With four NCAA championships and hundreds of wins under his belt, Dunphy said he realizes the Pepperdine and Malibu communities expect his squad to stand out.
“We have no choice but to be good,” the Volleyball Hall of Fame member said. “It’s a badge of honor.”
Pepperdine’s season began last Sunday with a 3-0 win over Concordia-Irvine at the Pepperdine campus’ Firestone Fieldhouse with 25-18, 25-14 and 25-14 set results.
The Waves will host Hawaii on Jan. 15-16, UC San Diego on Jan. 20 and UC Irvine two days later on Jan. 22. All of the matches are at 7 p.m.
Pepperdine went 4-0 in the preseason with two wins apiece over Saskatchewan and British Columbia.
Freshman David Wieczorek led Pepperdine with 57 kills during the preseason. The 6-foot-7 outside hitter had a career-high 28 kills in the Waves final win — a 3-1 victory over British Columbia on Jan. 8. Six-foot-four junior setter Joshua Stewart registered 161 assists for Pepperdine during the four games. He also led the Waves with 21 digs.
Junior Mitchell Penning, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker, led Pepperdine with eight blocks in the games.
Tarantino said Pepperdine is ready for regular season play.
“We have been playing well,” the native of nearby Van Nuys said. “It’s a good start, but we have to keep getting better along the way. So far I am liking what I see.”
The former Pepperdine player and Team USA volleyball coach Dunphy said although the team didn’t receive serves as well as they would like in the preseason, the squad did get the job done.
“We hit our way out of trouble, so to speak,” he said. “We were still able to score. At times, we served well. We have some pretty good arms.”
Dunphy has guided Pepperdine to a bevy of wins throughout his career.
The coach said the need to achieve, his coaching inspirations, his ability to relate to players, and the ebb and flow of his teams and opponents continuously drives him throughout his seasons manning the Wave’s sideline.
“It’s almost like a hitter; once a ball is up in the air, no set of circumstances are the same,” he said. “Maybe if I was a bowler I would bowl the same thing every time.”
Tarantino said it is amazing playing for Dunphy.
“It is easily the best experience of my life,” he said, “not only to grow as a volleyball player, but as a person in general is something that Marv really teaches. It is great to learn under him because there’s no one else really better.”
Pepperdine’s most recent championship was in 2005. Joining the nine newcomers on this year’s team is Sean Rooney — the top player on the championship team of 11 years ago. He has joined Pepperdine as an assistant coach.
Dunphy said the Olympic gold medalist Rooney adds a lot to the team.
“Having him here is a real coup for not only the volleyball team, but the Pepperdine community,” Dunphy said.
Tarantino said Rooney has a vast amount of volleyball knowledge.
“He sees things that other people don’t see on the court, and he sees things in different ways,” he said. “It is really an advantage to have him sharing his experiences.”
The Waves play in the MPSF, which includes Stanford, UCLA and USC, among others.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that someone is going to have to deal with our team at the end of the season,” he said. “We have a pretty competitive and feisty group.”