SoCal WCC Weekly Recap (10/13)

I’m changing the format for this column slightly because the winter season sports are now underway, and there are simply too many active sports to list them that way.  Rather, you can follow along with your favorite WCC school’s athletic progam as a whole.  The West Coast Conference does not compete in a number of sports that some of its member schools carry, so those individual teams are members of other leagues (like San Diego’s football in the Pioneer League).  I have included those non-WCC teams as well.

Pepperdine Waves

The 13-1 women’s volleyball team is currently ranked #17 in Division I after winning 3-1 at Loyola Marymount last Saturday in their only match of the week.  The Waves concluded their preseason women’s soccer schedule with a 2-1 win at CS Bakersfield before opening WCC play with a 1-0 overtime loss to LMU.  Pepperdine’s cross country teams had the week off as the program hosted its annual Kampmann Klassic, a 5K in honor of longtime former coach Dick Kampmann.  Alex Lilies led the Waves’ women’s tennis team as she knocked off the #4 seed and advanced to the Midland Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational semifinals.  Lilies was beaten in the semi’s by top seed Elze Potieger of Texas A&M.  The Waves women’s swim team dominated the opening weekend in Pacific Coast Swimming Confernence action.  The team set 17 personal bests and one school record as they swept the Pentathlong and Relay meets over the weekend. 

The #4 men’s water polo team hosted the SoCal Men’s Water Polo Tournament over the weekend, and placed fifth.  All of the top 10 and 14 of the top 16 ranked schools in the nation were in the tournament.  Pepperdine crushed Redlands, but lost to #5 Cal in overtime on Saturday, before coming back on Sunday with a close win over #9 UC Santa Barbara and crushing #6 Loyola Marymount on Sunday in the Fifth Place Game.  15-seed Bassam Beides lost in the opening round of the prestigious ITA All-American tennis championships. 

Loyola Marymount Lions

The women’s volleyball team has opened its WCC season with three consecutive 3-1 losses after Saturday’s loss to #17 Pepperdine.  The Lions women’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw of the CS Fullerton Intercollegiates tournament.  The women’s swim team finished second to Pepperdine at the PCSC Pentathlon on Saturday, despite the disdvantage of not having a diving program to add to their point total.