Pepperdine University
Saint Mary's
Waves Fall to Gaels in WCC Opener, 3-0
10/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Pepperdine-Saint Mary's Box Score 
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team went down to a 3-0 defeat (25-14, 25-16, 25-22) to Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference opener for both schools on Thursday night at Firestone Fieldhouse.
Pepperdine dropped to 7-6 overall, 0-1 WCC, after its fourth straight loss. The Gaels won in Malibu for the second straight year and improved to 9-3, 1-0.
The Waves got a match-high 11 kills from senior outside hitter Rachel Grochmal (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS), but no one else had more than five. Senior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula HS) had her second double-double of the season with 20 assists and 11 digs.
The Gaels, who had advantages of .275-.102 in hitting, 6-1 in service aces and 11.0-7.5 in blocks, received 10 kills from Lauren Corp, 20 digs from Alita Fisher and nine kills and six blocks from Megan Burton.
The Waves started the match with kills by freshman middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) and Grochmal, and still led at 9-8 after another Adelhelm kill. But the Gaels, behind a block by Megan York and Shannon Lowell, and later kills by York and Lowell, went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead at 12-9. Another 3-0 run made the score 15-10, and a 6-0 run that featured two kills by Corp and three Pepperdine unforced attacking errors pushed the advantage to 21-12. Corp finished the set with a service ace.
The Gaels never trailed in the second set after breaking out to leads of 3-0 and 8-1. Burton had two kills and a block assist to help Saint Mary's to its good start. A solo block by Lowell gave the Gaels a double-digit lead at 15-5. Pepperdine closed the gap a bit, getting to within three points at 18-15 after kills by sophomore middle blocker Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) and freshman Brittney Clark (San Jose, Calif./Presentation HS), and a Hill service ace. But Saint Mary's scored seven of the next eight points, including back-to-back kills by Chanteal Satele, to end the set.
The Waves led only at 2-1 in the third set after a kill by Adelhelm and an SMC attack error. But the Gaels scored the next three points, one on a service ace by York, and never trailed again. It was still a one-point game at 9-8 but Lowell rattled off three straight kills, and York added two more as part of a 6-0 run. The Waves would eventually pull within two points, but that wasn't until 24-22, and a kill by York ended the match on the next point.
The Waves continue their opening weekend of WCC play with a home match against #20 San Diego on Saturday (Oct. 3) at 1 p.m.
