Box Score MALIBU, Calif. – The San Francisco women's volleyball team, led by Ester de Vries and Jocelyn Levig, fought to 3-1 loss against No. 24 Pepperdine on Thursday evening.
The Dons (12-7, 3-3 WCC) fell to .500 in West Coast Conference play, losing in four sets by scores of 25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 21-25. USF jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, hitting a remarkable .400 in the opening frame. Outsider hitter Ester de Vries came out on fire, posting seven kills in the first set.
"We started the match very well, and hit .400 in the first set," Head Coach GIlad Doron stated. "Then Pepperdine responded and we just fell short. I thought there were things we could've done better, and we will work to get them better. When you play a top-25 team on the road you need to have more players contribute and hopefully we'll be able to do that on Saturday against BYU."
San Francisco then dropped the second, third, and fourth sets, as the Waves (13-7, 2-4 WCC) won their second West Coast Conference match of the 2012 season. After the Dons tied the score at 17-17 in the second set courtesy of a Rebecca Kopilovitch ace, the Waves took control, going on an 8-4 run to even the match at 1-1.
The Waves came alive in the third and fourth sets, hitting .308 and .410, respectively. After USF took a 6-5 lead in the third set, Pepperdine gained momentum, as Taylor Rachich rattled off four straight points, including two aces. Rachich would pave the way for the Waves with a 12-kill, 12-dig double-double.
"Pepperdine played well at home and they were more desperate than we were," Doron said. "We're going to have to play better if we want to win on Saturday. We have to have a better team effort and more committment."
Leanna Ludes tallied 44 assists on the night, while Kopilovitch played lockdown defense, registering 20 digs. Levig and de Vries accumulated 13 and 18 kills, respectively, to lead the Dons' offensive attack.
San Francisco will now travel to Provo, Utah to face the No. 16 BYU Cougars on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
For live streaming on BYUtv,
click here and for live stats,
click here.
