Conor McDermott Welch
Staff Writer
USF began West Coast Conference play this week with a hard-earned 1-0 win over the Loyola Marymount Lions in Los Angeles, followed by a tough 2-1 defeat by the No. 11 Pepperdine Waves. Continue reading Women’s Soccer: Krieser Helps Dons Dismiss Lions in WCC Opener
San Francisco Dons volleyball dominated Loyola Marymount University with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-19 sweep last Thursday night, only to lose their perfect home record to the No. 19 Pepperdine Waves on Saturday.
The Dons defeated LMU (10-9, 3-3 WCC) with ease and confidence, shutting down the Lions offense and responding to their opponent’s scrappy defense with some spectacular defense of their own.
“The team played confidently, even though I think offensively we weren’t very good today, we backed it up with defense, with blocking, with timely serving and great passing,” head coach Gilad Doron said, “you can beat teams in many ways.”
Sophomore middle blocker Malina Terrell set the tone for the match with a solo block for the first point of set one, instantly firing up the home crowd at War Memorial Gym. Terrell went on to lead the team in kills with nine on 13 attempts. The 5’10” native of Richmond, CA hit for a .692 attack percentage, had no errors and chipped in two blocks.
“I thought we did a really, really good job from the very first point,” Doron said. “The energy in the gym helps feed our energy,” junior outside hitter Alycia Cox said of the Dons fans.
Cox recorded an ace, four kills and 10 digs for the Dons, second in digs to freshman libero Rebecca Kopilovitch’s match-high 15. Setter Joan Caloiaro added 10 digs, four kills, two blocks and 29 assists. The 5’11” sophomore’s vicious serving produced four of the team’s six aces.
“As a team, we played as organized as we have in a long time,” Doron said. “I have to give our team a lot of credit, it was fun to watch them, even in the longest rallies that happened in the game, we still enjoyed that part.”
The Dons organized, confident play of Thursday disappeared for the first half of Saturday’s match against West Coast Conference leaders the Pepperdine Waves (13-5, 7-0 WCC). The Dons lost in four sets, 16-25, 18-25, 25-19, 22-25.
“I don’t know if our team got a slow start, or if it was just because Pepperdine played really well,” Doron said.
The Waves of Malibu, CA were very much in charge throughout the first two sets, setting the pace of the game and playing sharp, controlled volleyball. San Francisco struggled to gain composure and relied on frequent substitutions to try to liven things up on their half of the court. The Dons were finally able to put it all together in set three, taking the set 25-19 on a block and a kill by junior middle blocker Hadley Simmons.
“I was really pleased by how we responded in game three, I was pleased with some of the players coming in a stepping up,” Doron said.
Freshman middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik led the team in kills with 14, followed by freshman opposite hitter Vendula Strakova’s 11 kills. Strakova added seven digs.
Sharp volleyball was played by both teams throughout set four, a back-and-forth set that never saw a point spread bigger than two until the final sequence. The Dons reached a 22-20 lead, but were unable to combat Pepperdine’s five point run for the win.
“Pepperdine came and played really well early…they played better than us today, got to give them credit,” Doron said.
San Francisco plays its next match against the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7pm in War Memorial Gym.
Fast breaks are the easiest way to score a basket because they lead to easy lay-ups and wide-open shots. The Dons inability to both score and prevent fast breaks was one of the reasons why they lost to the visiting Pepperdine Waves. With the Dons struggling to hit shots early on in the game, Pepperdine was able to start the fast break off of rebounds. Getting all of those easy baskets allowed the Waves to jump out to an 18-8 lead halfway through the first half.
USF struggled to find their shot for most of the first half, missing their first four shots. The Dons also struggled to maintain possession as they committed 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game. They seemed lost on offense against Pepperdine’s zone defense. On many of their possessions, USF simply passed the ball along the perimeter hoping someone would make a three point shot. But Pepperdine did an excellent job of rotating, causing contested shots. The Dons were timid to pull the trigger on those contested shots; instead settling for passes along the perimeter and not shooting the ball. In the beginning of the first half, USF had a hard time getting the ball to Dior Lowhorn in the post, where he is hard to stop.
But once the Dons found Lowhorn in the post, they started to get back into the game. USF eventually tied the game at 25-25 with two minutes left in the first half. Pepperdine quickly took back the lead, making it a 31-27 game before Peter Smith hit a buzzer beater three pointer for USF. The Dons went into the half with a little momentum after starting the game slowly. They were hoping to carry this momentum over into the second half and eventually to a victory but Pepperdine did not allow this to happen.
The second half started the same way the first half ended, with both teams scoring back and forth. Both Pepperdine and USF looked to their best players to carry their offenses. USF made it a priority early in the second half to get Lowhorn the ball in position and he capitalized on his opportunities. At the same time Pepperdine allowed freshman guard Keion Bell to isolate, going one on one against his slower defensive opponents. Bell was able to use his quickness and soft shooting touch to torch the USF defense.
But Lowhorn and the Dons would not let Bell and the Waves run away with the game. Lowhorn single handedly carried the Dons’ offense scoring six points in the beginning of the second half. His great play started to rub off on his team mates as Manny Quezada and Angelo Caloiaro made a few big shots, allowing the Dons to take the lead 43-42 with 14 minutes left in the game.
Every time Pepperdine needed a basket, Bell was there to deliver, as he hit a jumper to take the lead and converted on a three-point play to stretch the Waves’ lead. Bell was on fire the whole game; he finished with 32 points missing only one shot, as he went 13-14 from the field.
USF did a good job of not giving up as they continued to battle, attempting to make a come back. Once again Dior Lowhorn led the team in scoring, as he finished with 28 points, while also grabbing down 10 rebounds. Despite his effort the Dons lost to Pepperdine 69-67. Pepperdine ended the game with 12 fast break points opposed to four by USF. Had the Dons been able to contain Pepperdine’s fast break they may have won the game.
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