Pepperdine Waves
Pepperdine Waves | |
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Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center Zuma Beach | |
Mascot | Willie the Wave |
Nickname | Waves |
Fight song | "Fight For Pepperdine" |
Colors | Blue, white, and orange[1] |
Website | www |
The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of
Pepperdine's chief athletic rival is the Loyola Marymount Lions, who are also in the WCC.
Nickname
Since the school's founding, the school's nickname has been the Waves. It was selected by president Batsell Baxter, as the general consensus among faculty and students was that there were too many animal names in college athletics at the time. Though the school was located in South Los Angeles at the time, the name has stuck, becoming more appropriate after the school's move to Malibu.[2]
Sports sponsored
Men's sports | Women's sports |
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Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Beach volleyball |
Cross country | Cross country |
Golf | Golf |
Tennis | Soccer |
Track and field† | Swimming and diving |
Volleyball | Tennis |
Water polo | Track and field† |
Volleyball | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor |
Baseball
Major league pitcher Jon Moscot pitched for the baseball team in 2011 and 12.[3][4][5] Other Waves pitchers who went on to success in the majors include Dan Haren,[6] Randy Wolf,[7] and Noah Lowry.[8]
Basketball
Pepperdine sponsors both men's and women's NCAA Division I college basketball teams.
Men's
The Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team began play in
Women's
The Pepperdine Waves women's basketball team began play in the 1975–76 season and has won four conference regular-season titles and three conference tournament championships. The Waves have made four appearances in the NCAA tournament and six in the Women's National Invitation Tournament advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2019.[9]
Women's beach volleyball
The
Men's golf
The men's golf team has won 20 West Coast Conference championships (1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019)
Pepperdine golfers who have won at the professional level are
Women's soccer
The women's soccer team, launched in 1993, has earned an invitation to the
Men's tennis
In 1982 Brad Gilbert transferred to Pepperdine University, playing for Allen Fox. He became an All-American and reached the finals of the 1982 NCAA Championship. Gilbert is a 1999 inductee into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame.[20]
Andrew Sznajder played college tennis at Pepperdine, where he was a two-time All-American selection (1987 and 1988; he was # 3 in college rankings both years).[21][22] In 1988, he won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association indoor individual championship. He turned pro in his sophomore year.[21] Israeli tennis player Boaz Merenstein also played for the school.
Water polo
Former sports
Football
Pepperdine played football from 1946 to 1961. At the end of the inaugural 1946 season the Waves defeated Nebraska Wesleyan University in the 1947 Will Rogers Bowl.[26]
Facilities
- Alumni Park - Cross country
- Eddy D. Field Stadium - baseball
- Firestone Fieldhouse - basketball & volleyball
- Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool - women's swimming & diving and men's water polo
- Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center- tennis
- Stotsenberg Track - track & field
- Tari Frahm Rokus Field- soccer
- Zuma Beach - beach volleyball home site
- Athletics Performance Center - training facilities
- Helen Stone Performance Center - athletics training & offices
Traditions
Mascot
The school's first mascot was Roland the Wave (a nod to the popular cheer "Roll on you Waves!"). From 1945 to 1950 the school used a wave costume (less amorphous than the current mascot's) on the sidelines. In 1951, Joe the Pelican was introduced at a football game. The idea was quickly dropped, however, because of the expense of caring for a live pelican. In 1952, Willy the Wave made his debut. Willy has always had the head and "hair" of a wave, though he has gone through several costumes, including one with white hair representing the foam of a wave, and the early 1990s version which bore a strong resemblance to the Mac Tonight mascot of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercials at the time. In 1996, Willy was replaced with King Neptune as part of a re-branding effort. The nickname never took off, however, and was scrapped in 2003. It was not until 2006, however, that Willy made his final return to Pepperdine athletics, this time with a larger wave head and usually wearing boardshorts and an Aloha shirt.[27]
School colors
Since the founding, the school's colors have been blue and orange. They were chosen by President Baxter over the final choice of blue and gold as at the time, no other Pacific school used the colors, which represented the blue of the Pacific Ocean and the oranges grown by the state of California. (Cal State Fullerton has since adopted similar colors, though their shades are darker than Pepperdine's.)[28]
Gallery
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Alumni Park Cross Country Course
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Eddy D. Field Stadium
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Firestone Fieldhouse
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Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool
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Ralph-Straus Tennis Center
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Tari Frahm Rokus Field
References
- ^ "Official Colors | Resources | Pepperdine Community". Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ We Are The Waves - PepperdineSports.com
- ^ Bill Vilona (June 7, 2014). "Moscot's rise shows draft's flaws". Pensacola News Journal. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- ^ "2011 Men's All-America Baseball Team (Division I)". Jewish Sports Review.
- ^ Dick Dornan (June 13, 2012). "Pepperdine baseball enjoys banner season". Malibu Times.
- ^ "MLB: Ex-Angels pitcher Dan Haren, also of Bishop Amat and Pepperdine, signs with Washington Nationals". 4 December 2012.
- ^ "Randy Wolf to be Inducted into West Coast Conference Hall of Honor".
- ^ "Former Giant Noah Lowry moves on after pitching career cut short - the San Francisco Examiner".
- ^ "2019 Postseason WNIT". womensnit.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
- ^ a b "Program History" (PDF). pepperdinewaves.com. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
- ^ "Pepperdine Golf – Records Book – 2012–13 Men's Golf" (PDF). Retrieved June 14, 2013.
- ^ "Waves Battle #1 Seminoles in NCAA Round of 16" (Press release). Pepperdine Waves. November 20, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ Arnold, Geoffrey C. (January 18, 2013). "Portland Thorns select four players in college draft". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ "15. Michelle Pao" (in Swedish). Damallsvenskan. March 24, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ "Morgan Brian No. 1 pick by Houston Dash in NWSL draft". ESPN. January 16, 2015.
- ^ Halloran, John D (August 3, 2020). "'Night and day' experiences: Bri Visalli finds success in second NWSL stint". The Equalizer. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ Rael, Chris (January 17, 2019). "2019 NWSL College Draft Recap". Soccer Today. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ Vejar, Alex (May 2, 2019). "Utah Royals FC rookie Michelle Maemone relishing opportunity as a starter". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ Jackson, McKenzie (February 23, 2022). "Joelle Anderson, one of Pepperdine Soccer's Best, Signs with National Soccer League Club". The Malibu Times. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ "CSTV.com: #1 in College Sports". Archived from the original on 2007-04-25. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
- ^ a b Andrew Sznajder | Bio | ATP World Tour | Tennis
- ^ "Player profile – Andrew SZNAJDER (CAN)". Davis Cup. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "PEPPERDINEWAVES.com Merrill Moses Bio: Pepperdine University Official Athletic Site: Men's Water Polo". Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Olympic Water Polo player: Merrill Moses". www.vcstar.com.
- ^ "Merrill Moses heads to London on an Olympian quest [WATER POLO]". July 12, 2012.
- ^ Grenley, Dave (June 3, 2010). "The History of Pepperdine Football". Pepperdine Waves. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
- ^ The Story of the Pepperdine Mascot - PepperdineSports.com
- ^ School Colors: Blue & Orange - PepperdineSports.com