Final Stats

Box Score: Pepperdine 3, Portland 1

PORTLAND, Ore. - With a season-high 16 kills, Samantha Cash led the Pepperdine women's volleyball team to a 3-1 come-from-behind win at Portland on Saturday afternoon. After dropping the first set, 14-25, the Waves rallied back to win 25-20, 25-21, 25-23.

With the victory, Pepperdine moves to 7-10 and 2-3 in the West Coast Conference, while the Pilots drop to 5-10 overall and 0-4 in the league.

Portland could not contain Cash (San Diego, Calif./Canyon Crest Academy), who did not commit a single attack error until well into the fourth set. The senior middle blocker finished with 16 kills while hitting at a sizzling .600 (16 kills-1 error-25 attempts) hitting percentage. Cash added three blocks, one dig and an ace to her stat line for 18.5 points.

Becca Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS), normally setting in a 6-2 offense, set all the way around today for a season high 49 assists. As a team, the Waves swung at a .281 (60-19-146) clip - their highest success rate vs. a conference opponent to date and third best in 2014.

Jillian Bergeson (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood HS) followed Cash with 14 kills, while Katie Messing (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS) and Gaby Palmeri (Davis, Calif./St. Francis HS) added 10 put aways apiece.

Olivia Okoro (Carrollton, Texas/Hebron HS/Tennessee) came in off the bench with eight kills and a pair of blocks.

On defense, Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista HS) collected a team-high 13 digs in three sets of work as libero. She also added three aces from the service line.

After a disastrous first set, the Waves picked up the pace and controlled the tempo of set two with a strong showing from the service line. With five team aces - two each by Strehlow and Loitz, one courtesy of Bergeson -- Pepperdine evened the match with the 25-20 win.

It was a battle of offensive fire power in set three, as both teams battled fiercely to take the 2-1 overall advantage. Although the Pilots charted 11 kills and did not commit a single attack error in the set, the Waves posted 23 total kills while hitting .422. Palmeri put down six kills, followed by Cash and Bergeson with a combined 10. Portland could not contain the Waves' well-rounded offense, and Pepperdine put the set away 25-21.

Messing opened set four with back-to-back aces and the Waves would not trail again. Although Portland made a strong campaign to force a fifth frame, and came back 22-23, Cash sided out for the Waves with a kill. The senior struck again on match point #2, and disposed of another kill to clinch the contest for her team.

Pepperdine returns to Malibu next week to host Wells Fargo PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount on Saturday, October 11 at 1 p.m. The match will be broadcasted live on WaveCasts.