HONOLULU – Pepperdine wasted little time in sweeping Kansas State in the first semifinals of the Honolulu Regional Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 25-18, 25-12, 25-23.
The 15
th-seeded Waves will play the winner of the second semifinal between Hawai‘i and USC, Saturday, for the right to advance to the NCAA Final Four next week in San Antonio, Texas.
Pepperdine was led by outside hitter Kim Hill, who tallied 15 kills and 15 digs and hit .438 with one error in 38 swings. Outside hitter Lilla Frederick had 10 kills and 11 digs. As a team, the Waves hit .289 compared to .121 for Kansas State.
The Wildcats, which finished their season 22-11, was led by opposite Kathleen Ludwig who had 12 kills and one error in 31 swings. Kaitlynn Pelger added 10 kills and 11 digs.
The Waves jumped out to a 10-6 lead in Set 1 and never looked back, finishing the game on a 6-1 run including back-to-back kills by Frederick and Kim Hill to end it.
Pepperdine opened the second set by scoring eight of the first nine points. Moments later, the Waves reeled off seven straight points to take a 17-3 lead en route to a 25-12 victory.
The Wildcats showed some fight in Set 3 taking a 9-6 lead and 15-13 at the midway point. The Waves regained the lead but KSU fought back to tie it at 23. Pelger’s 10
th kill gave the Cats match point and Hill ended it with a service ace.
The Regional Finals begins at 7:00 p.m. HT and will be televised live on ESPNU.
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