Tournament Notes

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's volleyball team concludes the tournament portion of the season this weekend with the Residence Inn Invitational, hosted by Arizona State. The Waves will contend with North Carolina Central on Friday afternoon, before faced with #8-ranked Colorado State and the #18-ranked Sun Devils on Saturday.

Match 10: Pepperdine vs. North Carolina Central | September 19 | 4 p.m. | Wells Fargo Arena | Tempe, Ariz.

Match 11: Pepperdine vs. #8 Colorado State | September 20 | 10 a.m. | Wells Fargo Arena | Tempe, Ariz.

Match 12: Pepperdine at #18 Arizona State | September 20 | 7 p.m. | Wells Fargo Arena | Tempe, Ariz.

LIVE FROM WELLS FARGO ARENA: All three of the Waves' matches this weekend can be followed via live stats ... Additional score updates can be followed on Twitter @PepperdineWVB ... Saturday's match vs. Arizona State will be streamed live and for free online through the Pac-12 Network ... Links to all available coverage can also be found by visiting the Pepperdine women's volleyball schedule page at PepperdineSports.com.

LOOKING BACK: The Waves faced three challenging opponents last weekend at the Bluejay Invitational ... Gaby Palmeri charted her first career double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs in a 3-1 loss vs. tournament host Creighton ... Jillian Bergeson charted 16 kills while Samantha Cash added 12 while hitting .688 (12-1-16) in a four-set setback to Wichita State ... Allie Loitz had a breakout performance in a dominant 25-15, 25-14, 25-15 triumph over Bowling Green, putting down 10 kills off of 17 errorless swings ... Palmeri averaged a team-best 3.64 kills/set on the weekend ... Becca Strehlow was honored as an all-tournament selection for the third time this season after leading Pepperdine with 6.91 assists, 3.64 digs, 2.00 kills and 0.73 blocks.

SENIOR CLASS: Senior middle blocker Samantha Cash was announced as a top-30 candidate for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award on Sept. 9 ... To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition ... An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

LOOKING AHEAD: Pepperdine opens West Coast Conference action next week, with road tilts at Saint Mary's and Pacific ... Both matches will be broadcast online at TheW.tv ... The Waves return to Firestone Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Sept. 30 to host BYU ... The match will be broadcasted nationally on ESPNU.

LOOKING FURTHER BACK: Pepperdine placed second at its own Asics Classic to start the season ... The Waves swept South Alabama to open the year, giving head coach Troy Tanner a win in his Pepperdine coaching debut ... All three of his predecessors, Patti Bright, Gary Sato and Nina Matthies won in their Firestone Fieldhouse debuts ... Becca Strehlow earned all-tournament honors at both the Asics Classic and the UC Irvine Tournament ... Samantha Cash was also an all-tournament pick at UC Irvine.

OPPONENT NOTES: Pepperdine has never faced North Carolina Central ... The Waves are 6-6 vs. Colorado State ... CSU won 27 matches in a row in 2013 before a late-season loss to San Diego State ... The Rams then fell 3-2 to BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament ... Colorado State is 9-1 and made the jump from #14 to #8 in this week's AVCA poll ... Arizona State has been equally as impressive this year, owning an 8-1 record heading into this weekend ... ASU also reached the NCAA Tournament in 2013.

TRIPLE THREAT: Junior setter Becca Strehlow has been doing a little bit of everything for the Waves, setting from the back row while hitting from the front row ... She already has three kills-digs-assists triple-doubles to her credit this season, after charting a blocks-digs-assists triple double in 2013 ... Strehlow was an AVCA All-American honorable mention in indoor last season, and a first-team All-American in sand volleyball.

SWINGING SOPHOMORES: Sophomore outside hitters Jillian Bergeson and Gaby Palmeri have impressed in the early portions of 2014 ... Bergeson leads Pepperdine's offense with a 2.81 kills/set average, after serving as the starting libero in 2013 ... The Texas native has also shined from the service line, and leads the team with 16 aces in 2014 ... She tallied 12 aces at the UC Irvine Tournament alone, including five in the win vs. Utah State ... She rattled off three aces in the fifth set, helping the Waves to the 15-5 rout ... Palmeri, in her first season as an on-court regular, has also impressed ... She ranks second behind Bergeson with 2.76 kills/set ... The sophomore pegged down a then career-high 15 kills off of 30 errorless swings for an impressive .500 hitting percentage vs. Oral Roberts ... Palmeri paced Pepperdine at the Bluejay Invitational with 3.64 kills/set.

THE ROTATION: Becca Strehlow and Chanel Brown share setting duties in the 6-2 offense ... Strehlow plays all the way around, serving as a hitter while in the front row ... Brown is also capable of playing in the front row as an offensive option ... Jillian Bergeson, Katie Messing and Gaby Palmeri have held down the pin hitting positions ... Allie Loitz has also seen time on the outside, as well as a starting gig as libero at the UC Irvine Invitational ... Samantha Cash has started every match at middle blocker, while Olivia Okoro and Emma Fuzie share time as the second middle blocker ... 2014 began with Katie Lespier as the starting libero .

A LOOK AT 2014: Pepperdine returns eight player from last year's 15-11 squad, including five starters, while bringing in six newcomers (four freshmen, one transfer, one redshirt) ... The Waves' roster features three seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and four freshman ... The Waves return three of their top-five scorers from 2013 including Katie Messing (2013: 3.54 kills/set, 2.25 digs/set), Samantha Cash (2013: 2.29 kills/set, 1.31 blocks/set) and Becca Strehlow (2013: 10.25 assists/set, 1.04 kills/set, 0.90 blocks/set) ... Pepperdine will have to make up for the loss of Kelley Larsen (2013: 2.73 kills/set) and Taylor Racich (2013: 2.59 kills/set) ... For a more in-depth look at the team, check out the season outlook (http://gowav.es/1ryBk2g).

NOTING THE WAVES: In its 40th season as a program, Pepperdine is 761-450-2 all-time ... The Waves are 320-90 all-time through 29 seasons of WCC play ... Pepperdine is 335-121 when playing inside Firestone Fieldhouse.

CHECK THE RECORD: Samantha Cash sits in eighth place in Pepperdine program history with 361 career blocks ... The senior is three blocks away from overtaking seventh place from Lisa Bevington (363) and five roofs shy of moving into sixth place over Barbara Stross (365) ... Cash is likely to rank in the top-three by the end of the season ... Katie Messing enters the weekend with 854 career kills and is on track to become the 17th Wave to reach the 1,000 kills milestone.

Troy Tanner: Pepperdine men's volleyball alum Troy Tanner enters his first season with the Waves in 2014 ... Tanner was a three-time All-American as a player, and helped lead the 1985 Waves to the NCAA championship title ... Tanner went on to win a gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul as part of the U.S. Men's National Team ... Prior to coaching at Pepperdine, Tanner served coaching stints at TStreet Volleyball Club and BYU.

HAPPY (SEMI) RETIREMENT: Nina Matthies, head coach for the Waves since 1983, stepped down following the 2013 season ... Matthies remains on staff, however, as coach of Pepperdine's two-time national championship winning sand volleyball team ... Matthies ended her 31-year tenure with the indoor squad with a 590-343 (.632) overall record and a conference record of 320-90 (.780).

INDOOR VOLLEYBALL HISTORY: The Pepperdine women's volleyball program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power ... The Waves have advanced to postseason play 27 times in 39 seasons, including 13 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 17 seasons ... Pepperdine's best finishes in recent years came when the team made the regional final of the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and again in 2011 ... Ten players have earned AVCA or Volleyball Magazine All-American honors a combined 19 times, while six players have been dubbed the WCC Player of the Year nine total times.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports -- one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat -- and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 23 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #54 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.