MALIBU, Calif. ­Â— The #16/#19 Pepperdine women’s volleyball team fell in four sets to visiting Saint Mary’s (25-19, 25-23, 14-25, 25-19) in a West Coast Conference match on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Waves (16-5, 4-5) suffered their fourth straight loss. The Gaels (16-6, 6-3) won their third straight.

 

Senior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein (Camarillo, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) had a match-high 19 kills to go with 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Freshman outside hitter Lilla Frederick (Huntington Beach, Calif./Cornelia Connelly HS) had 12 kills and 16 digs for her sixth double-double. Freshman middle blocker Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) added 11 kills and four blocks. Freshman libero Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) had a match-high 21 digs.

 

Tied 10-10 in the first set, Megan York recorded three straight kills to give the Gaels the lead for good. With a 13-12 advantage, the Gaels scored five straight points, with Shannon Lowell getting two kills and a block assist. The Waves got no closer than four points the rest of the set.

 

The Waves built three-point leads in the second set at 15-12 and 17-14, although the Gaels tied it at 17-17 after a Chanteal Satele kill. The set would also be tied at 18, 19, 20, 22 and 23. The Waves took a 23-22 lead after a Rubenstein kill, but the Gaels scored the next three points on kills by Lowell, York and Lowell again.

 

The intermission worked out well for the Waves, because after hitting .103 for the first two sets, they came out with a blistering .379 average in the third set. Senior outside hitter Caitlin Lawson (Walnut Creek, Calif./Carondelet HS) got the Waves off to a 5-0 start with two kills. Senior middle blocker Cassi Chamberlain (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood HS) had two kills as part of a 3-0 run to make the lead 10-5. With a 17-13 lead, the Waves closed out the set on an 8-1 run with Rubenstein scoring two kills and a block assist.

 

The Waves couldn’t ever get the run of points that they needed to overtake the Gaels in the fourth set. Pepperdine’s only lead came at 1-0, although the score was close until the end of the match. It was a one-point game at 18-17 but kills by York and Lowell pushed Saint Mary’s lead to 20-17. A 4-0 run made it 24-18 and York finally ended the match with a kill.

 

Lowell had 16 kills and York had 15 kills and 17 digs to lead Saint Mary’s. Kapua Kamana’o had 43 assists and 10 digs and Alita Fisher had 18 digs. The Gaels won for only the second time in Firestone Fieldhouse in 22 visits.

 

Pepperdine actually ended up with a better hitting percentage, .175 to .168.

 

The Waves were without all-conference junior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula HS) for the third straight match. She suffered a hand injury last weekend and is out indefinitely. Sophomore setter Kealohilani Kea (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kamehameha HS) had 46 assists in her place.

 

Pepperdine is ranked #16 by Molten/Volleyball Magazine and #19 by the AVCA. Saint Mary’s is receiving votes in the AVCA poll.

 

The Waves play their third straight home match on Thursday (Nov. 6) against Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m.