MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women’s basketball (9-3) beat CSUN (5-6) 69-63 Saturday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse for the program’s best start in 45 years.
 
“We created a lot of great opportunities, and found a way when shots weren’t falling,” head coach Katie Faulkner said. “I think we know we want a better effort defensively in the second half but people stepped up in different ways throughout the game.”
 
Shooting just .382 on the afternoon, including .280 from distance, the Waves had to find a way to win with the offense being cold for the majority of the game.
 
The most from a single player in the first quarter on either side would be Shorna Preston with four points as neither squad found an offensive rhythm. With an average of .270 shooting from the field for both teams after the opening 10, Pepperdine led 12-11.
 
More than doubling the first quarter’s production, the Waves’ shots started to fall in the second. Lina Falk led the way with eight points as Shorna Preston hit her second from distance, nearly securing a double-double before the half with 11 rebounds and nine points. With the defense outrebounding CSUN 9-4, the Waves erased all second-chance opportunities for the Matadors, taking a 31-18 lead into the locker room at half.
 
Momentum swung in the visitor’s favor coming out of the break as the 13 point-lead was erased for Pepperdine throughout the third quarter. Two separate lead changes and three ties in the 10-minute stretch proved the game would come down to the wire. Being outshot .294 to .558, the Waves fought through the swing of favorability, taking a slim 44-43 lead into the final quarter.
 
After another cold 10-minute stretch, the offense found a groove for the final stretch. Shooting .500 from the field as well as from three, the Waves kept a hungry CSUN team at bay. Seleh Harmon hit one of her two from distance in the fourth, making it six straight games with a three from the freshman who has netted one in 11 of the 12 games played this season. Falk led Pepperdine to victory in the second half with 10 points as the Waves pulled off the 69-63 win.
 
Closing out the nonconference stretch of the season 9-3, it is Pepperdine’s best start in 45 years and the fourth best start in program history. After the Holidays, the Waves begin West Coast Conference play on the road, going to Pullman, Wash. to take on the Cougars of Washington State Dec. 28. The game will be available on ESPN+ (subscription required) with live stats available at pepperdinewaves.com.
 
GAME NOTES
 

• Lina Falk dropped a season-high 18 points, two shy of her career-high. 
• Falk’s season-high of 18 led the team this afternoon.
• Shorna Preston secured her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a season-high 16 rebounds.
• The third and final Wave in double digits was Seleh Harmon, dropping 10.
• Taija Sta. Maria, who leads the team in assists, was the leader once again tonight with four.
• The Waves and Matadors split 30 turnovers evenly with 15 apiece.
• Pepperdine scored 13 in transition compared to CSUN’s zero.
• The Waves outrebounded the Matadors 47-36, including 17-10 on the offensive side of the glass.

 
 
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine women’s basketball has made four NCAA postseason appearances in its history, having won the WCC regular-season four times and the WCC Tournament on three occasions. With six All-American selections in program history, the Waves have also seen success in the WNIT Tournament which included a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2019.
 
TICKETS
For more information and to purchase tickets to upcoming home events, visit here.
 
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine women’s basketball news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineWBB

By now, almost everything that can be said about the NCAA women’s volleyball final has been said. The serve zones have been diagrammed. The rotations studied. Every star has been labeled and ranked and debated into exhaustion. What Sunday in Kansas City does is ask two teams that have spent the whole season proving themselves to do it again, once more, as if none of it counted yet.

It is No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, the first all-SEC championship match in Division I women’s volleyball history. Kentucky has been here before, winning the 2020 national title. Texas A&M has not. 

2025 NCAA women’s volleyball championship

ABC is available for free over the air and also streams on ESPN Unlimited. 

The Aggies bulldozed their way into the program’s first championship match by knocking out top overall seed Nebraska in five sets and then sweeping Pitt, another No. 1 seed, in the national semifinal. They arrive with a first-time finalist’s resume and are led by Jamie Morrison, who was just named the national coach of the year.

They’re also the harder team to know. You think you’ve seen their ceiling, and then they elevate. When the Aggies are in system, they can bury you before you’ve adjusted. When they’re not, they don’t panic. Texas A&M standout Logan Lednicky called the Aggies “the grittiest,” and they’ve played like it, especially during the late-set messiness that usually eats upstart teams. Clean volleyball doesn’t really exist in a title match, anyway.

Kentucky comes in with the steadier resume and scar tissue. The Wildcats survived Wisconsin in five sets in the semis. Kentucky’s Craig Skinner and Wisconsin’s Kelly Sheffield coached junior varsity volleyball together in Muncie, Ind., in 1990 and went undefeated. That history is part of how you get here. So is what happened Thursday, when Skinner’s team ended Sheffield’s season.

Here’s the boring truth of a championship: It usually comes down to first contact. If serve receive holds, the setter has options and the block can be manipulated. If serve receive cracks, the whole thing turns into emergency swings.

Notably, Kentucky beat Texas A&M 3-1 when they met during the regular season in early October. That matters as evidence that Kentucky can solve this puzzle. It does not matter as a prediction. Finals are their own species.

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Good morning, BBN! It’s game day!

The Kentucky Wildcats compete for a volleyball national championship this afternoon against Texas A&M. It’s Kentucky’s second appearance in the NCAA Volleyball National Championship and Texas A&M’s first appearance. It’s also the first time two SEC teams have competed for the national championship.

It’s been a fantastic postseason run for the Wildcats, going back to that thrilling win over Texas in the SEC Championship and all the way to that come-from-behind win over Wisconsin in the semifinals. Now, the Cats have a chance to top it off with a national championship.

Game time is set for 3:30 PM ET on ABC.

This will serve as today’s open thread, so make sure to come back here to talk about the game!

The SEC is stepping up its volleyball game.

She’s been a key piece for this team.

JQ wasted no time making his presence known.

Big performances from Quaintance and Lowe.

He certainly looks like a difference-maker moving forward.

Will Stein’s offense looked good last night.

Texas Tech vs Oregon is the most interesting to me. How about you?

Could you imagine how different things look?

Not a great Year 1 for Schottenheimer.

That’s a game Duke will wish they could have back.