Trojans Topple Waves In Four Sets
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(Charlie Magovern/Neon Tommy)
The first set was a battle from the start. Senior middle blocker Robert Feathers produced some early kills and two aces in the set. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Christopher Orenic led the offense with six kills in the set and senior opposite Cristian Rivera followed up with five kills.
Early offensive production pushed the Trojans to a 21-18 lead, but Pepperdine came back to make it 22-21, in their favor. Back-to-back points gave the Trojans the lead at 23-22, and Orenic sealed the win with a huge kill.
In the second set, from the beginning the momentum shifted for Pepperdine. Early on they pulled ahead of the Trojans, 10-4. The Trojans scored back-to-back with a kill from Feathers and a block from junior outside hitter Alex Slaught, but they weren’t enough to hold back Pepperdine and their lead became 15-8.
The student section filled the Galen Center with cheers, motivating the Trojans towards victory. In the latter half of the set, the Trojans rallied back with big kills from Orenic and Rivera, but it wasn’t enough to stop Pepperdine from winning the set 25-20.
After the game, head coach Bill Ferguson pointed out that even though they lost the second set, at the end of the set they were back to playing better volleyball.
“Every time our team has been pushed,” said Ferguson. “We’ve pushed back.”
The Trojans carried the momentum from the end of the second set into the third set and came out firing on all cylinders. They built up an early 10-4 lead and just kept attacking from there. Kills from Slaught and Feathers and a dump from senior setter Micah Christenson kept the Trojans’ offense nearly unstoppable (They hit .429 in the third set). Pepperdine never had a chance to comeback and the Trojans took the third set 25-14.
(Charlie Magovern/Neon Tommy)
To begin the fourth set, the Trojans were all fired up and the Galen Center was filled with energy from the players and the fans.
“We fed off of [the crowd] big time,” Christenson said. “We really appreciate that.”
Varni also commented on the excitement level from the crowd.
“People showed up and it’s great,” Varni said. “It definitely helped us on the court.”
Back-to-back kills from Rivera brought the lead to 7-2 over the Waves. The Trojans were hustling all over the court. Junior libero Brooks Varni and Slaught even dove into the scorers table to keep the ball in play.
The Trojans kept increasing their lead with kills from sophomore middle blocker Andy Benesh and Slaught, but the Waves kept finding ways to stay in the set. Christenson’s never-ending energy kept his team pumped up on the court.
The Waves tied up the set at 21-21. Slaught and Rivera had back-to-back kills to make it 23-22. Pepperdine comeback and tied it at 24-24. At this point, the stands were erupting with cheers for the Trojans. A huge ace from Christenson sealed the set and the match for the Trojans at 26-24.
Throughout the match, the Waves had a hard time returning Christenson’s serves, and he attributed it to his hard work on his serve in the offseason.
(Charlie Magovern/Neon Tommy)
“We’re ready to take on the challenges of this season together,” Christenson said.
Looking forward to Monday’s match against Stanford, Coach Ferguson commented about how they can celebrate this win for a bit, but they’ll be looking at Stanford and preparing for them immediately.
“It’s going to be all about the next man up all year,” Ferguson said.
Varni also talked about facing Stanford and how they always come down to the Galen Center and play well against the Trojans.
“We need to come out hard against them,” Varni said. “We’re excited for that.”
The Trojans take on Stanford Monday night at 5pm at the Galen Center. Make sure to go out and support the Trojans at their second home match of the season.
Contact Staff Reporter Jodee Sullivan here and on Twitter here.
