After back-to-back wins against the University of the Pacific (7-15, 1-10) and Oregon State University (14-7, 8-3), the Cougs now take on West Coast Conference (WCC) No. 2-ranked Pepperdine University (15-7, 9-2).
At the start of the season, the Cougars set out to win a WCC championship. At this point, it would be difficult to achieve as they are three matches behind No. 1-ranked University of San Diego (18-4, 11-0) with seven matches remaining in the regular season. However, Wazzu is still aiming to improve and climb the WCC ranks.
“It’s not in our control anymore,” head coach Korey Schroeder said. “But, we still have to continue to show up every single day.”
This mentality will be important for this upcoming match against Pepperdine, a team they lost to 3-0 earlier in the season. In that match, they had a .020 hitting percentage — their lowest of the season. This was, in large part, due to Pepperdine recording 17 blocks.
Livia Ward sets up Lucie Blažková for a spike against the Santa Clara volleyball team on Sep. 27 2025.
Despite their lack of offensive production, this time against the Waves, they are still aiming to play aggressively.
“[We’re] trying to be more aggressive up in the net,” outside hitter Melina Christodoulou said, “and not be scared to get blocked because that’s what happened last time. We’ll be practicing a lot to get ready for them. We understand that they have a very high block and a really good defense.”
Although Pepperdine does not have a top-10 hitter in terms of kills in the WCC (being only No. 7 in total kills), they are still strong offensively. They have six different players with over 100 kills- the most in the WCC. They also have strategic ball placement.
“I just [think what makes them strong offensively is that] they are pretty smart, and they place the ball really well,” libero Tinons Munar Galmés said.
The WSU volleyball team celebrates a point against LMU on Oct. 18 2025.
To combat this, Schroeder said they will look to position themselves well defensively and stay disciplined with their block lineups to get digs to transition to the attack.
Similar to Pacific, which the Cougs faced last week, Pepperdine is also a strong serving team. Pepperdine currently has the most aces and aces per set in the WCC. However, the Cougs limited Pacific to four aces and five to Pepperdine last time.
Overall, this match will be critical for both sides. A win for the Cougars would tie them for second place in the WCC. After Pepperdine, the rest of Wazzu’s matches are against teams they have already defeated or are against teams that currently sit outside the top five in the WCC. If they win, they have a favorable path to a second or possibly first-place finish in the conference, depending on how Pepperdine and San Diego finish the season.
On the other hand, a win for Pepperdine would cement them in second place in the conference, with one more match against San Diego. It would give them a better shot at stealing a WCC championship from the Toreros.
However, a loss for either side would realistically eliminate them from winning the WCC.
The match begins at 1 p.m. Saturday in Bohler Gymnasium.
