Pepperdine-Saint Mary's Box Score 
MORAGA, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team came within a couple of points of knocking off a first-place West Coast Conference team on the road for the second time this week, but Saint Mary's pulled out a five-set (22-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-20, 15-13) win on Saturday afternoon.
Despite a career-high 25 kills by senior outside hitter Rachel Grochmal (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS), the Waves (12-10, 5-4) unfortunately lost in five sets for the third time in the last four matches. The one differing match in that streak was Pepperdine's three-set victory at #19 San Diego on Wednesday. The Toreros entered the week tied with Saint Mary's (16-4, 8-1) for first place in the conference.
Grochmal also hit .400 (25-5-50) with eight digs. Senior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula HS) recorded 63 assists and 12 digs and sophomore libero Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) posted 17 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Lilla Frederick (Huntington Beach, Calif./Cornelia Connelly HS) had 12 kills and 14 digs, freshman outside hitter Caitlin Racich (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos HS) had 12 kills and seven digs, sophomore middle blocker Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) added 10 kills and freshman middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) had nine.
The Gaels outhit the Waves .315 to .279 and had edges in blocking (12-2) and aces (6-4).
After Pepperdine eked out wins in the first and third sets, the Gaels had a strong finish to win the fourth set. Saint Mary's jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fifth set, but Pepperdine tied it up again at 9-9 behind three kills by Grochmal. Tied 10-10, however, the Gaels scored three straight points and went on to the victory.
Last weekend, the Waves lost in five sets to both San Francisco and Santa Clara. The Gaels swept the season series from the Waves for only the second time.
Next weekend, Pepperdine plays its final two home matches against Portland (Thursday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.) and Gonzaga (Saturday, Nov. 7, 1 p.m.).
