Loyola Doesn’t Get Carried Away, Beats Pepperdine

It wasn’t quite a hot summer night in Atlanta, but there were shades of Kerri Strug when Lisa Stark carried injured setter Becci Roehl off the court.

Only there was no medal ceremony, no fanfare and no victory for the Pepperdine women’s volleyball team, despite a decent showing against 11th-ranked Loyola Marymount.

The Lions grabbed their 20th consecutive West Coast Conference victory, 15-4, 14-16, 15-13, 15-10, Saturday at Gersten Pavilion.

The Waves (7-5, 2-1 in conference) had reason to break in the second game when Roehl, the nation’s leader in assist average, landed awkwardly and suffered a sprained ankle after going up for a block.

She did not return, leaving the offense in the hands of Amanda Spoor, who had not played this season.

The Waves trailed, 8-6, when Roehl went out, but fought back to take the second game.

Five kills from Anna Krascenicova helped, as did improved defense at the net and better serving.

That made the third game pivotal. And with 74 sideouts--35 after the Lions took a 12-11 lead--it was also long.

Not long enough for the Waves, who could not overcome Sarah Noriega, who delivered 12 of her career-high 27 kills.

Pepperdine also missed Roehl.

“That’s our quarterback,” Coach Nina Matthies said. “Our offense was a little rusty, but we hung in there.”

Despite finishing with a season-high 50 errors, the Lions had enough to win the fourth game.

The Lions (13-2, 3-0) defeated Pepperdine for the fifth time in a row at home, though this was closer than last year’s meeting at Gersten.

“When Pepperdine plays Loyola, rankings don’t matter, nothing matters,” Loyola Coach Steve Stratos said.

“It’s going to be a war every single time.”

One that might be continued Nov. 9 when the teams meet at Firestone Fieldhouse.

“They’re a good team,” said Pepperdine’s Nicole Sanderson, who had 17 kills and 16 errors, “but it’s definitely possible for us to beat them at home.”

Kim Blankinship had 25 kills for Loyola.

Krascenicova finished with 16 kills for Pepperdine.