The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University , located outside the city of Malibu, California . They compete at the Division I level of the NCAA . The school is a member of the West Coast Conference for the majority of its programs. Pepperdine University was recently ranked by the Sears Cup as having the most successful athletic program for non- football Division I schools ( Stanford was ranked the most successful Division I athletic program with football). Pepperdine University sponsors seventeen NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams. There are also several intercollegiate sports clubs such as men's soccer, men's and women's lacrosse, surf team, Ultimate Frisbee and men's rugby.
24-622: Pepperdine's chief athletic rival is the Loyola Marymount Lions , who are also in the WCC. 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,
48-507: A 1,200 seat stadium which has been home to the program since 1983. The Lions burst onto the national basketball scene in the late 1980s under coach Paul Westhead . His teams led Division I in scoring in 1988 (110.3 points per game), 1989 (112.5) and 1990 (122.4). LMU's 122.4 point per game in 1990 was still a record as of October 2010. As of October 2010, Loyola Marymount held the five highest combined scoring games in Division I history. Four of
72-489: 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 . Since
96-542: Is a former American soccer player who played as a defender for Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Maemone was born to Joe and Anita Maemone and grew up in San Jose, California. An early enthusiast of soccer, growing up Maemone played both as a defender and forward for clubs Central Valley Arsenal and MVLA Mercury Black as well as her high school, The King's Academy. Maemone played four years for
120-543: The NCAA Division I Championship in 1997 and 2021. Pepperdine golfers who have won at the professional level are Brent Geiberger (2 PGA Tour wins), Jason Gore (1 PGA Tour win, 7 Korn Ferry Tour wins), Andrew Putnam (1 PGA Tour win, 2 Korn Ferry Tour wins), Jeff Gove (3 Korn Ferry Tour wins), Michael Putnam (3 Web.com Tour wins), and Byron Smith (1 Korn Ferry Tour win, 4 Canadian Tour wins). The women's soccer team, launched in 1993, has earned an invitation to
144-793: The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship tournament 12 times, qualified with a national seeding five times, and advanced to the Round of 16 in 2002, 2005, 2014, and 2021. National Women's Soccer League teams have selected seven Pepperdine players in NWSL Drafts : Roxanne Barker ( 2013 , 32nd overall), Michelle Pao ( 2014 , 24th overall), Lynn Williams ( 2015 , 6th overall), Brianna Visalli ( 2018 , 19th overall), Hailey Harbison ( 2019 , 9th overall), Michelle Maemone (2019, 23rd overall), and Joelle Anderson ( 2021 , 26th overall). In 1982 Brad Gilbert transferred to Pepperdine University, playing for Allen Fox . He became an All-American and reached
168-458: The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship game at Stanford University 's Avery Aquatic Center. In January 2024, Loyola Marymount announced that it would cut six athletic programs after the 2023–24 season: men's cross-country, men's rowing, men's track and field, women's rowing, women's swimming, and women's track and field. Michelle Maemone Michelle Hope Maemone (born March 18, 1997)
192-578: The Pepperdine Waves . During her time at Pepperdine she made 78 appearances, 69 as a starter and finished with 3 goals. Maemone was twice named to the WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll "bronze" donors and received an All-WCC honourable mention honouree her sophomore year. Maemone was drafted by the Utah Royals FC in the third round, 23rd overall, of the 2019 NWSL College Draft . She was signed by
216-916: The 1938–1939 season , and has amassed 12 regular-season conference titles and three conference tournament championships. It qualified for the NAIA men's basketball tournament seven times during the 1940s and 1950s. It has made 13 appearances in the NCAA tournament , six in the National Invitation Tournament , and three in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), and it won the CBI championship in 2021 . Thirty-eight former Waves have been drafted or played National Basketball Association as recently as 2021 ( Kessler Edwards ) and 2023 ( Maxwell Lewis ). The Pepperdine Waves women's basketball team began play in
240-738: 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. The Pepperdine Waves women's beach volleyball team represents Pepperdine University in women's beach volleyball. Pepperdine launched its beach volleyball program in 2011. 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) They won
264-615: The Commissioner, First-Team All-American and West Coast Conference Player of the Year Billy Traber , two-time Major League Baseball All-Star CJ Wilson , and David Fletcher . The Lions have been to the College World Series once, in 1986, and also recorded 9 NCAA appearances, and 10 West Coast Conference Championships (three Championship Series and seven regular season). The Lions play home games at George C. Page Stadium ,
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#1732859271032288-600: The Royals in April 2019. She made her debut for the club as a starter on April 20, 2019, due to injuries to both Becca Moros and Kelley O'Hara. The day prior to her club debut, Maemone had had 101 degree fever. After the dissolution of Utah Royals FC, the NWSL awarded all of the team's player rights to the newly created Kansas City NWSL expansion team, including Maemone's. She appeared in five matches for Kansas City, starting two, before she
312-404: The WCC conference tournament from a heart condition. LMU's current men's head coach is Stan Johnson . The Lions won their first ever West Coast Conference title in 2004, going 24-6 (13-1) while beating Gonzaga to go to the NCAA tournament . Michael Erush was a Loyola Marymount University Lions men's soccer standout, a four-time All- West Coast Conference (WCC) selection (2000, 2001, 2002),
336-672: The athletic teams that represent Loyola Marymount University , a Jesuit institution in Los Angeles , California . The school competes in NCAA Division I and the West Coast Conference . In January 2024, the university announced that it would cut six athletic programs at the end of the 2023–24 season: men’s cross-country, men’s rowing, men’s track and field, women’s rowing, women’s swimming, and women’s track and field. The Lions have produced 30 future Major Leaguers, including Billy Bean , MLB's Vice President and Special Assistant to
360-527: 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
384-602: The finals of the 1982 NCAA Championship. Gilbert is a 1999 inductee into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame. 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). In 1988, he won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association indoor individual championship. He turned pro in his sophomore year. Israeli tennis player Boaz Merenstein also played for
408-549: The first team since the inaugural season to win its first two matches. The team entered the field of eight as the number five seed and finished the 2021 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in third place. The women's water polo team was the WWPA Champion in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007. At the conclusion the 2004 season, Loyola Marymount's women's water polo team lost to the University of Southern California , 10-8, in
432-468: The five occurred during Westhead's career, including a record 331 in the 181–150 win over United States International University on January 31, 1989. The team's last appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 1990 , where they advanced to the Elite Eight. They would lose to eventual national champion UNLV . Prior to the tournament, Lions star player Hank Gathers died during
456-525: 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.) Loyola Marymount Lions The Loyola Marymount Lions are
480-417: The name has stuck, becoming more appropriate after the school's move to Malibu. Major league pitcher Jon Moscot pitched for the baseball team in 2011 and 12. Other Waves pitchers who went on to success in the majors include Dan Haren, Randy Wolf, and Noah Lowry. Pepperdine sponsors both men's and women's NCAA Division I college basketball teams. The Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team began play in
504-619: The postseason. He was inducted into the Loyola Marymount Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017. The Lions fielded their first beach volleyball team during the 2012 season. The Lions won their first WCC Championship in 2019, which they defended in 2021 and 2022 (championships were not held in 2020 due to COVID-19). In 2021, the Lions were selected for their first NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where they became
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#1732859271032528-531: The school. Merrill Moses , three-time Olympic water polo player and silver medalist, played water polo for the Waves for four years from 1995-98. He was All-American honorable mention in 1996, first team in 1997, and second team in 1998. He was also All- Mountain Pacific Sports Federation all four years, and 1997 MPSF Goalkeeper of the Year. He helped lead Pepperdine to the 1997 NCAA championship, and
552-424: Was game and team MVP. Moses is now Associate Head Coach in water polo at Pepperdine. 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 . 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
576-555: Was named First Team in 2003, and served as team captain during his junior and senior seasons. He was named First Team National Soccer Coaches Association of America All Far West Selection in 2002, and was named First Team All-America by the Jewish Sports Review in 2003. During his last three years, he helped the Lions advance to the NCAA Tournament, and in 2003 finished in a first-round bye and national seeding (#13) in
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