Pepperdine-USF Box Score 
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine and San Francisco women's volleyball teams played an epic five-set battle in West Coast Conference play on Thursday night, with the visiting Dons earning a 20-25, 28-26, 24-26, 28-26, 15-12 victory.
Pepperdine (11-8 overall, 4-2 WCC) had begun the night tied for first place in the conference and was riding a four-match conference win streak. USF (10-9, 4-2), however, fought off a couple of match points and the Dons went on to enjoy their first-ever victory in Firestone Fieldhouse in their 25th visit.
The closeness of the match can be summed up in the statistics: Pepperdine had slight advantage of .228-.225 in hitting, 81-78 in digs and 6-5 in service aces, while blocks were tied 15-15.
Sophomore outside hitter Lilla Frederick (Huntington Beach, Calif./Cornelia Connelly HS) was one of three Waves with double-doubles with a team- and season-high 17 kills to go with 12 digs. Senior outside hitter Rachel Grochmal (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) had 12 kills and 15 digs and senior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula HS) had 57 assists and 16 digs.
Sophomore libero Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) posted a match-high 27 digs. Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Racich (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos HS) had a career-high 15 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) and freshman middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) had 11 kills apiece. Adelhelm had seven blocks and Hill had six.
For USF, Sarah Mandala had a match-high 18 kills (14 of them in the final two sets) with 17 digs, Haley Carroll had 22 digs, Hadley Simmons had eight kills and 10 blocks and Alycia Cox had 12 kills and 10 digs.
The Waves got the match underway by taking a 4-1 lead in the first set, with Frederick recording a kill and a service ace. USF eventually tied the set at 5-5 and built a two-point lead, first at 7-5 and later at 9-7. The Dons' last lead was at 10-9, though the match stayed tied until it was at 13-13. Racich then pounded down two straight kills, giving Pepperdine the lead for good. With a 15-14 advantage, the Waves scored four points in a row, as Hill had a kill, Hill and Frederick shared a block and Frederick recorded a solo block. The teams roughly traded points the rest of the set, and Pepperdine ended it on kills by Grochmal and Racich. The Waves had a .294-.162 hitting edge as Adelhelm and Racich posted five kills apiece.
The second set saw 12 tie scores and four lead changes and both teams had the opportunity to serve for the set. Pepperdine led by as many as three points, first at 12-9 and last at 15-12, but USF immediately went on a 4-0 run with the help of consecutive blocks by Simmons and Cox. The Dons had two set points at 24-22, but the Waves evened it up on kills by Hill and Frederick. Pepperdine had its only set point at 25-24 after a Don attack error, but Erin Kilroy tied it back up with a kill. Tied 26-26, USF got a point on a service error and ended it on a block by Anna Berger and Simmons. The Dons enjoyed a .211-.140 edge in hitting, with Berger collecting four kills.
The Waves had a tremendous comeback to win the third set. USF built a seven-point lead at 22-15 in the third set and had multiple set points beginning at 24-20. But the Dons would not score again as the Waves tallied six straight points to take a 2-1 overall lead. Hill knocked down three straight kills and Grochmal served up an ace to tie it up. Racich had a kill to give the Waves the lead, and then Hill and Racich teamed up for a set-ending block. Racich and Frederick had five kills each as Pepperdine enjoyed a .283-.222 hitting advantage.
Both teams had multiple set points again in the fourth set, and the Waves had a swing to win the match on one occasion. The biggest lead of the set was three points by USF early on. There were 16 ties and six lead changes in all. The Waves had their second match point at 26-25, but Mandala got a kill to even the score, and Cox put down kills on the next two points to send the match to a fifth set. Mandala had nine kills and Cox had six as USF had a .279-.270 edge in hitting.
The Dons got off to an excellent start in the fifth set at 6-2, but the Waves rallied to tie it at 8-8 after a service ace by Robinson. It was still tied at 10-10 when the Dons took the lead for good after a kill by Mandala and a Wave attack error. The Waves got back within one point at 13-12, but USF ended the match on kills by Bragg and Cox.
The Waves conclude the first half of WCC play at home on Saturday (Oct. 24) against Santa Clara at 1 p.m.
