Pepperdine-Gonzaga Box Score 
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team was victorious in five sets for the first time this season, coming back to knock off Gonzaga 25-7, 23-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-11 in West Coast Conference play at Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
The Waves (14-10, 7-4 WCC), who were playing in their home finale, improved to 23-0 all-time in Malibu against Gonzaga (9-15, 4-6), but overcame a 2-1 deficit to do so. It's only the second time, and first since 1995, that the matchup at Pepperdine went to five sets.
Sophomore middle blocker Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) continued her outstanding run for the Waves, knocking down a career-high and match-high 22 kills to go with a .594 hitting percentage (22-3-32) and five blocks.
Playing in Firestone Fieldhouse for the final time, senior outside hitter Rachel Grochmal (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) had 13 kills and 16 digs and senior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula HS) recorded 60 assists and 11 digs. Fiers directed the Waves to a .292 team hitting percentage.
Sophomore outside hitter Lilla Frederick (Huntington Beach, Calif./Cornelia Connelly HS) had 13 kills and eight digs, freshman middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) had 12 kills and hit .476 (12-2-21), freshman outside hitter Caitlin Racich (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos HS) had six kills and seven digs and sophomore libero Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) tallied 21 digs.
Gonzaga, which hit .194, go 14 kills and six blocks from Layne Brosky, 11 kills from Michelle Boevers, 10 kills from Terran Poindexter and 25 digs from Allyson Powell.
The 18-point margin in the first set was Pepperdine's largest in the two seasons that rally scoring has gone to 25 points. The Waves had kills on nine of their first 11 swings to break out to a 12-3 lead. Up 12-5, the Waves then scored 11 straight points as Frederick had four kills, Hill had two kills and Racich had two service aces. The Waves hit .556 with 17 kills and just two errors, while the Bulldogs were at a negative-.038 (five kills and six errors).
There was a reversal of fortunes in the second set, as the Bulldogs lifted their hitting to .344 and the Waves dropped to .237. Gonzaga quickly outdid its first set performance by going ahead 8-4. Pepperdine tied it up at 11-11, but the Bulldogs took the lead again and went up three at 15-12. The Waves eventually tied it at 18-18 on a Gonzaga attack error, and Pepperdine built a two-point lead at 21-19 and a block by Grochmal and Adelhelm and a kill by Frederick. But trailing 22-21, Gonzaga scored three straight points on a Pepperdine error and kills by Boevers and Brosky. Pepperdine got the next point, but Gonzaga's Kaprina Goodwin ended the set with a kill.
After the intermission, the Bulldogs came out hot and didn't let up. They scored the first seven points of the third set as Boevers had a kill and two service aces. They built a double-digit lead at 18-8 and led by as many as 12. Gonzaga hit .318 to Pepperdine's .103, led by Brosky's five kills. The Bulldogs also had five service aces and four blocks in the set.
Pepperdine rallied back in the fourth set and never trailed after Grochmal recorded kills on the first two plays. The Waves continually picked up points off their serve and led by as many as eight points at 19-11 after a 4-0 run that saw kills by Hill, Frederick and Fiers and a block by Hill and Frederick. Gonzaga's hitting cooled to .171 while Pepperdine hit .261.
The Waves had lost their four previous five-set matches this season, but this time, they didn't let the opponent get off to a good start. Gonzaga's only lead was at 3-2, but a kill by Hill and a service ace by Grochmal put the Waves back in front. It was tied 10-10 when Hill put down another kill, and Grochmal followed with a serve that hit the top of the tape and dropped in for a service ace. After a kill by Boevers, the Waves finished off the match with three straight kills, the first one by Hill and the last two by Frederick. Pepperdine had a .381-.174 hitting edge in the final set.
Pepperdine plays its final three regular-season matches of 2009 on the road, beginning next Friday (Nov. 13) at Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. A point will be up for grabs in the newly created PCH Challenge, a season-long competition between the two local rivals.
