Pepp Talk

Robert Radnoti is in his 12th season as the head coach of Pepperdine’s cross country and track programs and he helps preview the 2017-18 school year on this week’s podcast, including this week’s first and only home meet. We also get his story, hearing about his running background and how he left a prominent career in the corporate world to pursue his passion for coaching.   www.PepperdineWaves.com   Related Twitter accounts for this episode: @PepperdineWaves @PeppXCTrack @CoachRadnoti @PepperdineRoger

The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team begins its 2017 season this week. Third-year head coach Scott Wong (1:12) joins the podcast to help introduce us to this year’s team. Then, sophomore middle blocker Jasmine Gross (14:51) comes on to talk about her record-setting and All-WCC freshman season. Both share details about the team’s summer trip to Europe and what fans should expect to see this year.   www.PepperdineWaves.com   Related Twitter accounts for this episode: @PepperdineWaves @WavesVolleyball @CoachWongPepp @jasmineegross @PepperdineRoger

Max Rooke is the associate head coach of the Pepperdine women's soccer team, the defending WCC champions. He grew up in Reading, England, before coming over the U.S. to play college soccer, which then led to coaching. His interesting story includes his other job as a motivational speaker and mental conditioning coach, which has greatly benefited several of the Waves' teams.

Season two of the Pepp Talk podcast kicks off with an interview with the new Pepperdine men's volleyball head coach, David Hunt. He's packed an incredible amount of experience in the last 10 years, working alongside Marv Dunphy and coaching with USA Volleyball.

A day after legendary Pepperdine volleyball coach Marv Dunphy announced that he was stepping down from the position, we talked about his incredible career -- including four NCAA championships in his 34 years with the Waves -- and his reasons for deciding that now was the time to make the move.

We've got a look back and a look ahead with Pepperdine's basketball coaches this week, as Marty Wilson (1:36) and DeLisha Milton-Jones (24:35) return to the podcast to provide updates on their teams. Wilson chats about his returners and newcomers, while Milton-Jones talks about what life has been like since being promoted from an assistant to the head coach.

This week's podcast looks back at the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships with junior Corinne Quiggle (1:18), who helped lead Pepperdine to an impressive second-place national finish, and ahead to this week's NCAA Men's Golf Championships with sophomore Roy Cootes (24:45), as he's a big part of why the Waves are back at nationals for the first time since 2011.

The Pepperdine women's golf team competes at the NCAA Championships this week, so we've got head coach Laurie Gibbs on the podcast to talk about this year's team, her 24 years in charge of the Waves and her coaching philosophy that has helped build Pepperdine into a national power in the sport.

Brittany Howard of beach volleyball and Matt Gelalich of baseball are this week's guests on the podcast. Brittany (1:18) is a graduate transfer who will be helping to lead the Waves into this week's NCAA Championships, while Matt (22:19) began his career at Pepperdine way back in the 2011-12 season. Give a listen to their stories!

With Seaver College graduation coming up this weekend at Pepperdine, we've got two outstanding seniors on this week's podcast who have excelled both in the classroom and in their sport. Aaron Barnett of baseball and Izzy Connell of women's track are the department's Scholar-Athletes of the Year for 2016-17 and they tell us about how they achieved so much as student-athletes.

On the eve of the West Coast Conference Golf Championships, we have fifth-year men's golf head coach Michael Beard on the podcast to talk about this year's outstanding team, his own experience as a Pepperdine student-athlete and how he got into coaching.

We've got an all-tennis podcast this week with two of our international student-athletes, both seniors. Apichaya "Jean" Runglerdkriangkrai (1:18) is from Thailand and Guilherme Hadlich (18:31) is from Brazil, and both are standout players for the Pepperdine women's and men's teams, respectively.

We talk to student-athletes Brandon Caruso of baseball (1:21) and Tatiana Wijaya of women's golf (16:30) in this week's podcast. Caruso is a four-year member of the Waves who has an interesting future in the film industry ahead of him. Wijaya, a native of Indonesia, tells us about being an international student-athlete and a standout golfer in her junior season.

Two of Pepperdine's volleyball student-athletes, Delaney Knudsen from the women's beach team and Mitchell Penning of the men's squad, join the podcast this week. Delaney (1:15) was a freshman on the 2014 national champions and now plays #1 on the ladder for the nation's #2-ranked team. Mitchell (23:01) tells an inspiring story about how he turned his life around in high school with the help of faith and volleyball, which led to him becoming a three-year starter for the Waves.

Pepperdine student-athletes Sahith Theegala of men's golf and Christine Maddox join the podcast this week. Sahith (1:15) recently had an amazing four-week stretch where he made the cut at the Genesis Open on the PGA Tour and won his first college tournament. Christine (24:03) was ranked third nationally in doubles as we taped this interview. Both are looking forward to leading their teams far into the postseason later this spring.

William "Bird" Averitt is one of the greatest men's basketball players in Pepperdine history and he still holds all kinds of school and league scoring records. He was the 1973 WCC Player of the Year and an All-American before going on to play in the ABA and NBA. On March 4 he was inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor and we caught up with him just after the ceremony.

In the midst of the 2017 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships in Las Vegas, we sit down with WCC Associate Commissioner Jeff Tourial to talk about the tournament and his position, which includes overseeing TheW.tv and working with the conference's television partners.

NCAA beach volleyball season gets underway this weekend. The Waves have a true legend in the sport in Nina Matthies as their head coach, so she comes on the podcast to help preview the upcoming season -- Pepperdine begins the year ranked #4 -- and to also talk about the amazing growth of the sport at the college level and her long, illustrious tenure in Malibu.

Two more Pepperdine student-athletes, David Wieczorek of men's volleyball and Jonathan Allen of men's basketball, join the podcast. A redshirt sophomore, Wieczorek is leading the Waves in kills this season. Allen has earned a starting job late in his senior year. Both talk about their journey to Pepperdine and their time in Malibu playing for their respective teams.

College baseball season begins this week, so we have on second-year Pepperdine baseball head coach Rick Hirtensteiner to talk about the 2017 Waves, who should again be one of the favorites in the West Coast Conference. We also hear about Hirtensteiner's playing days in Malibu, which led to him being inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.