Final Stats

Box Score: Pepperdine 3, Saint Mary's 2

MORAGA, Calif. - Although Saint Mary's rallied back from a 0-2 deficit, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team played strong when it mattered most and held on to win in five sets during Thursday night's West Coast Conference opener. Samantha Cash provided the spark for the Waves with 10 blocks, nine kills and three aces.

The Waves (6-7, 1-0 WCC) won the first set in come-from-behind fashion before winning the second, and leading late in the third. The home squad refused to be swept on its home floor however, and fought off four match points to tip the momentum and take the frame 27-25. Pepperdine was eventually able to regain control of the contest after the deflating loss and won by final set scores of 25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 20-25, 15-9.

With the 10 rejections, Cash (San Diego, Calif./Canyon Crest Academy) brings her career block total to 376 which moves her up two spots into a tie for fourth place in the program record book. Number wise, tonight was the second-best single-match block performance of Cash's career.

Samantha Tinsely paced the Gaels' (4-7, 0-1 WCC) offense with 21 kills.

Gaby Palmeri (Davis, Calif./St. Francis HS) and Jillian Bergeson (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood HS) surpassed double digits in both kills and digs for Pepperdine. Palmeri charted 15 kills and 12 digs, while Bergeson added 14 kills and 14 digs.

Contributing with a little bit of everything, Becca Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS) ended the evening just one kill shy of her fourth triple-double of the season. The junior setter handed out 31 assists while picking up a career-high 28 digs.

The Waves swung at a .243 (61 kills-18 errors-177 attempts) hitting percentage with Strehlow and Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz./Valley Christian/Arizona) managing the offense. Partially due to Pepperdine's 13-8 advantage in blocks, SMC was held to a .195 (62-24-195) clip.

Freshman libero Katie Lespier (Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach HS) extended her career-high in digs to 18.

Although Saint Mary's ran away with the early lead in set one, the Waves made their way back into the frame thanks in part to the heavy hitting of Cash and Palmeri. After trailing by five, 8-13, Pepperdine eventually knotted the score at 19-all following a Cash-Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista HS) block. The Waves capitalized on some untimely Gael errors and walked away with the 25-23 win.

Cash paced Pepperdine with five kills off of seven errorless swings, followed by Palmeri with four put aways. Kelli Gerrans (Los Gatos, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) came off the bench with a pair of aces.

The Waves controlled the second set and never trailed en route to the 25-20 triumph. Pepperdine continued to lead in set three, until a debilitating 4-0 Saint Mary's run, all at match point, knotted the score at 24-24.

With new life, the momentum took a sharp turn in the Gaels' favor as they walked away with wins in sets three and four.

The Waves picked themselves up by the bootstraps and willed their way back in front in set five. Cash kept hitters at bay with two blocks, while slowing down countless more attacks, and Pepperdine commanded the early lead. Loitz scored on a kill and SMC committed their sixth attack error of the set to wrap things up at 15-9.

Loitz helped her team's cause with a career-high five blocks and three aces to go along with nine kills.

The Waves continue the first week of conference play with a road match at Pacific on Saturday, Sept. 27. First serve against the Tigers is set for 12 p.m. and action can be watched live on theW.tv.