Waves Preparing for Semifinal With USC

There’s no rest for the weary. Or for the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team.

The Waves, who won a five-game thriller against Stanford in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, meet one of the hottest teams in the nation, USC, in a semifinal Thursday night at Pepperdine.

Second-seeded Pepperdine (21-4) beat the Trojans (22-4) twice this season, but USC has won six consecutive matches, including a 15-9, 15-10, 15-4 victory over Hawaii in the first round.

Third-seeded USC had an impressive .481 hitting percentage, while sixth-seeded Hawaii hit .165.

“When you see that big of a disparity, you’re going to beat a lot of teams,” said USC Coach Pat Powers.

The Waves, however, are at a different level than Hawaii.

Pepperdine downed USC in the UC Santa Barbara tournament final in January, 15-9, 7-15, 15-6, 15-8.

The Waves defeated USC in an MPSF match in February, 11-15, 15-10, 10-15, 15-7, 15-11.

USC upset the Waves in the first round of the MPSF tournament last season, but Pepperdine Coach Jeff Stork doesn’t call it motivational.

“I don’t look at it like that,” Stork said. “I look at it as one more along the way.”