Balanced Waves End Losing Skid Against Loyola

So this is what a balanced women’s volleyball team at Pepperdine looks like.

With a not-so-secret game plan the past couple seasons--feed the ball to Nicole Sanderson--the Waves were predictable and, at best, an above-average team.

This season, the Waves have a middle attack they can rely on, they have other dependable outside hitters and, of course, they still have Sanderson.

It all added up to a 15-5, 7-15, 16-14, 15-10 victory over Loyola Marymount in a West Coast Conference match between two ranked teams Saturday night at Pepperdine.

Sanderson had 24 kills, and she had help from middle blockers Anna Witkowski, who delivered 20 kills, and Jamie Hill, who had 14.

Balance meant success for the 14th-ranked Waves, who beat 19th-ranked Loyola Marymount for the first time since Oct. 29 1994, and ended an 0-5 skid against the Lions.

“This is a big-time grudge match for us,” Sanderson said. “I wanted to win this more than I’ve wanted to win any other [match].”

Pepperdine (17-2, 6-1 in WCC play) defeated its fourth ranked team this season, although Sanderson wasn’t quite herself in the first game, getting one kill.

Not to worry.

The Waves built a 9-1 lead in the first game on the strength of four team blocks, including three by Witkowski.

Hill, a transfer from UC Irvine, also helped out with four kills and three blocks.

“That’s the reason we’re winning right there,” Sanderson said. “We have so many options.”

All the options are fine with Pepperdine Coach Nina Matthies.

“In the matches that we’ve been successful, we haven’t ridden [Sanderson],” Matthies said. “We’re trying to get more balanced and I think that we have.”

In the second game, Loyola Marymount (15-5, 5-2), though an inexperienced team, showed why it has won three consecutive conference titles.

Sarah Noriega, a two-time All-WCC selection, recovered from a sluggish start with seven kills for the Lions, who had six team blocks and tied the match at 1-1.

Noriega, who finished with 29 kills, had 11 in the third game as the Lions recovered from an 11-4 deficit to take a 12-11 lead.

Pepperdine responded with its own ace--Sanderson, a three-time All-WCC selection. She pounded down nine kills, including three late in the game.

Witkowski had eight kills in the fourth game and Hill knocked down the last three kills of the match for the Waves.

“I believed in [setter] Becci Roehl and she believed in me,” Witkowski said. “We had our bumps in the road, but we kept on trucking right out the door.”

Outside hitter Kristin Lee, a former player at Westlake High and Moorpark College, had 12 kills for the Waves, who took advantage of Loyola Marymount’s youth at middle blocker.

The Lions start a freshman and a sophomore and a fourth conference title will take some extra work.

“You can throw out all the rankings, all the records when we play each other,” Loyola Marymount Coach Steve Stratos said. “We didn’t have to tell our players [before the match] how important this is. We never have to when we play Pepperdine.”

Pepperdine, which lost to first-place San Diego (18-2, 7-0) in a lengthy five-game match two weeks ago, gets a rematch Nov. 8 at San Diego.

“They were amazing the last time they played us and we were average,” Sanderson said. “I know we can beat them if we play the way we can.”