Pepperdine University
Saint Mary's
Waves Drop Five Set Heartbreaker to Saint Mary's
10/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 20, 2010
Box Score: Saint Mary's 3, Pepperdine 2 
MORAGA, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team made a heroic comeback after falling behind 2-0, but eventually fell to Saint Mary's 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 19-25, 15-9) The Waves drop to 14-6 and a 5-1 in the West Coast Conference, while the Gaels improve to 13-6 and 5-1 in the league.
Reigning WCC Player of the Week Lilla Frederick paced the floor with a career-best 20 kills, while Victoria Adelhelm (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) collected 13 put aways on a .542 attack percentage. Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) protected the back court with 22 digs and Kellie Woolever (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS) captured the double-double with 44 assists and 11 digs.
The Waves stumbled in the first frame and were unable to piece together their offense. Down, 15-4, Pepperdine relied on strong service from Emily Cook (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley HS) and Frederick to close the deficit to five points. However, the Gaels continued to hit well and built their lead to 10 points, before the Waves battled back once again to come within four. Gabby Jolly put the 25th point on the board with her fifth kill of the set.
Pepperdine's offense heated up on the second set, led five kills from Adelhelm and four courtesy of Frederick. The Waves and the Gaels played even with one another, until a 3-0 SMC run prompted Pepperdine to call a break in the action. As a team, the Waves hit a solid .324 (16-5-34) but Saint Mary's did not commit a single attack error in the frame to finish at .500 (17-0-34) and continue on to a 25-19 win.
The third set was dictated by the Waves, who came out of the break with a renewed focus. Brittney Clark (San Jose, Calif./Presentation HS) opened the set and served for three-straight points to give Pepperdine a lead that it would own the entire game. Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) would help the Pepperdine cause with six kills. Clark finished what she started, and gave the Waves the third-set win with an ace.
Pepperdine continued to roll in the fourth set, jumping to a 7-1 lead to force the Gaels to spend a timeout. SMC did not go away quietly, however, and worked its way back into the match, but the Waves continued to play strong. Woolever and Adelhelm brought the game to set-point with a block before Hill recorded her second ace of the match to force a fifth game.
The Waves jumped to the early lead in the final set, but a 4-0 SMC run gave the home team its first lead of the frame. After a Pepperdine timeout, Frederick tied the set back up with her 19th kill of the match, but the Gaels continued to extend their lead with a high success rate on the attack. They eventually edged Pepperdine in the final game, 15-9.
Saint Mary's was led by Jolly, who tallied 16 kills. Megan York paced the Gael defense with 17 digs.
The Waves continue their week on Sat., Oct.23 with a road contest versus #19 San Diego. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Noting the Waves: This was the 1,106 match in Pepperdine women's volleyball history ... With the loss the Waves are 691-413-2 all time and 282-70 in WCC play ... Nina Matthies has tallied 524 wins as the head coach of the Waves ... This was the 47th meeting between Pepperdine and Portland ... The Waves are 38-9 all-time versus the Gaels ... Kim Hill has logged at least one service ace in six of the last seven contests ... Lilla Frederick's 12th kill of the match was the 700th of her career ... Stevi Robinson now has 1,200 career digs to rank fourth in the Pepperdine record books.
