May 30, 2013

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team's 2013 recruiting class, currently comprised of seven freshmen, netted high acclaim on the Prepvolleyball.com Top-30 Recruiting Classes list. The Waves-to-be are listed at #9 in the rankings, marking the fifth-straight season Pepperdine has appeared in the top-30.

Incoming freshmen include outside hitters Jillian Bergeson (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood HS) and Gabriella Palmeri (Davis, Calif./Saint Francis HS), middle blockers Reegan Dennis (Orange, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS), Emma Fuzie (Carmel, Calif./Carmel HS) and Brooke Honeycutt (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) and setters Ryann Chandler (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) and Monique Domme (Colorado Springs, Co./Cheyenne Mountain HS).

Click here and here to read their signing announcements.

This is the second time in three seasons head coach Nina Matthies and her staff have signed a group of student-athletes that have ranked in the top-10. In 2011, a recruiting class comprised of Katie Messing (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS) and Samantha Cash (San Diego, Calif./Canyon Crest Academy) also ranked #9.

Both Messing and Cash made an immediate impact for the Waves as freshmen in 2011 and helped lead Pepperdine to the NCAA Tournament regional finals. Cash collected West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year honors during her rookie season while Messing claimed a spot on the leagues' all-freshman team.

Prior to that in 2009, a recruiting class that included all-time Pepperdine greats Kim Hill, Lilla Frederick and Stevi Robinson also ranked in at #9.

Nebraska headlined the recruiting class rankings followed by USC, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, UCLA, Michigan State and Stanford. Washington came in just behind Pepperdine to round out the top-10.

This season's recruits tout impressive credentials. Palmeri was singled out as a Prepvolleyball.com Academic All-American second team selection for her success both on and off the court.

On the website's annual Senior Aces list, Bergeson came in at #92 followed by Honeycutt at #79 and Palmeri at #67. Both Chandler and Domme appeared in the 101-250 section.

Pepperdine had the highest ranked recruiting class of any team in the West Coast Conference. Santa Clara received a highest honorable mention while BYU collected a high honorable mention. WCC newcomer Pacific also snagged a spot on the high honorable mention list.

The Waves open the 2013 season with two home tournaments on back-to-back weekends. First, Firestone Fieldhouse plays host to the Pepperdine Asics Classic on Aug. 30-31. The following weekend, Sept. 6-7, the Waves host the Pepperdine Invitational. For a full schedule, visit PepperdineSports.com.