No Problems for Pepperdine

Quite a block party they threw by the beach.

Members of the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team, not exactly shying away from their defense at the net, blocked, rocked and rolled to a 15-6, 15-6, 15-7 victory over Cal State Northridge in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener Tuesday night at Pepperdine.

The Waves, ranked No. 3 in the nation, outblocked the Matadors, 15-3, and stifled Northridge All-American Chad Strickland, who had eight kills, eight hitting errors and a .000 hitting percentage.

“Chad wasn’t swinging [well tonight],” Northridge Coach Jeff Campbell said of Strickland, who was held out of the UC Santa Barbara tournament last weekend because of a sore right shoulder.

“His shoulder’s bad and physically he wasn’t into it. He had a tough match.”

So did Northridge opposite hitter Junior Mosones, who was sharp last weekend, but dull against Pepperdine with 11 kills and 10 errors.

The Waves (2-0 overall) had no such problems.

All-American George Roumain had 22 kills and seven total blocks, while freshman Scott Wong had 12 kills.

Hawaii transfer Rick Tune had seven kills and six blocks and setter J.J Riley, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, had three blocks.

The bad news for the MPSF: the Waves, who are balancing in fresh faces in Wong, Tune and Riley, have not yet peaked.

“I just told them [in the locker room] that of all the teams I’ve coached, this team has the potential to improve the most,” said Coach Marv Dunphy, in his 16th season at Pepperdine.

The teams combined for 19 service errors, 10 by Pepperdine, in a sloppy first game, but the Waves set a precedent by outblocking the Matadors, 5-1.

In the second game, five of the Waves’ first eight points came via a block.

The match ended on a block.

The bright spot for Northridge (1-1) may have been middle blocker Adam Black, a transfer from La Verne, who had 10 kills in 17 attempts.