Lalazarian Making Impact Off Bench for Pepperdine

Pepperdine junior forward David Lalazarian had one of the best efforts of his two seasons at Pepperdine Tuesday night against Cal State Fullerton.

Lalazarian, who played at Tustin High, had 18 points and four rebounds in 17 minutes.

It was the type of performance new Pepperdine Coach Jan van Breda Kolff wants from his reserves.

“This is a talented team, and everyone on the team has to be ready to contribute when they get the opportunity,” Lalazarian said. “It’s not like we have five or six guys who get nearly all the playing time. We have five guys who start, but at least five others who play quite a bit.”

An aggressive full-court press and a fast-break offense favored by van Breda Kolff, a former coach at Vanderbilt, have made depth more important for the Waves.

“I like this style of play,” Lalazarian said. “I think the press helps me. It makes me a lot more active.”

Lalazarian has been averaging 13 minutes a game this season, and is averaging 6.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and shooting 43.2% from the field after seven games. He scored 11 points Saturday in Pepperdine’s 68-64 victory at UC Santa Barbara.

“You always hope for more playing time, and maybe that [game against Fullerton] will help me,” Lalazarian said.

Lalazarian started 19 of 32 games last season as a sophomore, averaging 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds. He had originally signed with Notre Dame, but was there only one year.

“I enjoyed my year at Notre Dame, but it turned out to be too far away from home for me,” Lalazarian said. “I wanted to come back home, and Pepperdine is a good school with a good basketball program.”

NOTEWORTHY

Colorado senior Kelly Campbell (Corona del Mar) has been selected to the NCAA District 5 all-star team by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. She set an NCAA record for assists per game with a 14.45 average, and was named to the Big 12 all-conference team for the fourth consecutive year.

Oklahoma junior Cathy Cook (Irvine High) was selected Big 12 newcomer of the year in women’s volleyball. Cook, who transferred from Portland, ranked second in the conference in hitting percentage (36.5%).

San Diego freshman defender Garrett Turk (Aliso Niguel High) was a second-team all-West Coast Conference selection in men’s soccer.

Senior setter Katie Lindquist (Ocean View High) led the San Diego women’s volleyball team in assists this season with a 13.9 average. Freshman middle blocker Bridget Merritt (Los Alamitos High) averaged 2.25 kills for the Toreros.

San Diego finished 23-6 for the season, reaching the second round of the NCAA playoffs.