West Coast Powers UCLA, Pepperdine to Play in East

Pepperdine is traveling a long way to meet a familiar opponent in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament round of 16.

The Waves (26-3) will play UCLA (27-3) at Penn State on Thursday at 2 p.m.

It is the second consecutive year the No. 9-ranked Waves have advanced this far. They defeated Michigan on Saturday night at Pepperdine in a second-round match.

“We have been training all year to get to the Sweet 16 again and it feels great to be advancing,” Coach Nina Matthies said. “We are greedy and our goal is to advance to the Final Four.

“We have played solid team volleyball all season, and if we continue along those lines we have the opportunity to achieve those goals. However, UCLA will be looking for payback.”

Pepperdine rallied to beat the Bruins in a five-game match Nov. 23.

The Waves have won 20 matches in three or four games and are 91-11 in games played this season.

“We are playing with tremendous confidence,” Matthies said.

The match can be heard live on the Internet at broadcast.com.