Final Stats

Box Score: Pepperdine 3, #25 Santa Clara 1

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - For the second consecutive match, four players reached double-figure kill totals and the Pepperdine women's volleyball team upended #25-ranked Santa Clara, 3-1. The Waves have now won four of their last five, and will look to carry over the momentum into their final three-match home stand.

Pepperdine, now 11-16 overall and 6-9 in West Coast Conference matches, won by set scores of 25-20, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22. The loss drops the Broncos, who entered this week in second place in the WCC standings, to 20-9 and 10-6 in the league.

Although Santa Clara held a 61-51 advantage in kills, the Waves committed 10 fewer attack errors. Pepperdine also won the battle at the service line with six aces and six errors, while SCU dished seven aces while missing on 12. Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz./Valley Christian HS/Arizona) came in off the bench with four of the Waves' six aces.

Led by six rejections by Samantha Cash (San Diego, Calif./Canyon Crest Academy), the Waves also won the defensive battle at the net and out-blocked the Broncos 12-6.

Jillian Bergeson (Friendswood, Calif./Friendswood HS) paced the Pepperdine offense with 12 kills, while Cash and Katie Messing (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS) chipped in with 11 each.

Gaby Palmeri (Davis, Calif./St. Francis HS) helped the Waves' cause with 10 kills and five blocks.

Managing the offense was Becca Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS), who handed out 37 assists. She added five kills, 11 digs, five blocks and an ace.

Pepperdine also got an impressive performance out of Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista HS). The freshman collected a career-high 17 digs from the libero position.

The lead was exchanged four times in set one, but the Waves made a late push that sent them to the victory. Tied 20-20, Brown kept the Broncos on their toes with her serving and back-to-back Strehlow-Cash blocks put Pepperdine out in front 24-20. Brown sealed the deal with an ace.

Santa Clara responded in the second, and the Waves were forced to play catch up for most of the frame. Pepperdine eliminated a three-point deficit to knot the score up, 22-22, but would not take over the lead until Messing laid down kills on consecutive points to make it 24-23. Strehlow clinched the win, and with it a 2-0 lead, just as Brown had done in the first set - with an ace.

The Waves had their chances to close out the match in straight sets, but it was Santa Clara's turn to rally back from behind and steal away the victory. After Pepperdine led by as much as four, 12-8, the Broncos went ahead at 17-16 and held on to win 25-21.

Although the Waves enjoyed a three-point lead early in the fourth stanza, the home squad evened the score at 15-all. The opposing sides would go back and forth until kills by Cash and Bergeson provided a small cushion, 19-16. The Broncos answered with three straight points of their own following a time out, but Pepperdine continued to battle. Cash laid down a kill after SCU committed an attack error to send the Waves ahead once and for all, 22-20. Up match point 24-22, Messing was dug up on her first five attacks of the series, but capitalized on attack No. 6 to secure the upset for Pepperdine.

This is the Waves' first win over a ranked opponent this season, and first since last September when Pepperdine blanked #19 Kentucky on the Wildcats' home floor.

The Waves now enter the final home stretch of the 2014 regular season, hosting Pacific (Nov. 20), Saint Mary's (Nov. 22) and San Diego (Nov. 25). Senior Day, celebrating the careers and contributions of Messing, Cash, Brown and Jazmine Orozco, will be held on Saturday, Nov. 22.