Waves to Host Santa Clara and San Francisco
10/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Game Notes
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team heads into week four of West Coast Conference play this week. To start the weekend, the Waves will take on Santa Clara, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll and ranked No. 2 in the WCC, on Thursday at home. Then, Pepperdine will host San Francisco on Saturday, with an alumni reception to follow shortly after completion of the match. The team is currently 12-7 overall and 3-3 in West Coast Conference competition.
MATCH #18 — Thursday (October 15) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (12-7, 3-3 WCC) vs. Santa Clara (14-4, 5-1 WCC) at 7 p.m.
MATCH #19 — Saturday (October 17) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. San Francisco (15-4, 2-4 WCC) at 1 p.m.
LIVE — Both matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Live statistics will also be available on PepperdineSports.com
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineSports.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
OPPONENTS — Santa Clara enters the match-up 14-4 overall and 5-1 in the West Coast Conference, ranking the Broncos No. 2 in the WCC standings. The team is also currently receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Nikki Hess leads the Broncos with a substantial 4.1 kills/set, after smacking down 252 kills with only 106 errors in 670 attempts for a .218 hitting percentage. Jensen Cunningham leads the Broncos with 74 total blocks, averaging 1.2 blocks/set including seven total block solos and 67 block assists. Kirsten Mead serves as the primary playmaker for Santa Clara after dishing out 11.0 assists/set and 661 total assists. San Francisco enters the match with a 15-4 overall record and a 2-4 record within WCC competition, finding themselves at the No. 8-spot in the WCC standings. After starting the season 13-0 against non-conference opponents, the Dons tallied the first loss against a then nationally ranked No. 10 BYU and has since won only two matches. The Waves hold a 53-7 all-time record against USF. Katarina Pilepic leads the team with 3.8 kills/set after tallying 257 kills and 89 errors in 561 attempts for a .299 success rate on the attack. Madison Murtagh is first on the team with 1.2 blocks/set including 14 solos and 65 assists, while also remaining second on the team with 2.5 kills/set. Kiara McKibben and Jurja Vlasic split setting duties and have tallied 6.9 and 5.0 assists/set on average respectiviely.
LAST WEEK— Last weekend, the Waves split 1-1 with a win at Portland (3-1) and a loss at Gonzaga (0-3). First, at Portland, the Waves posted 65 kills and 29 errors in 191 attempts for a .188 hitting percentage. The team tallied 86 digs with five Waves in double-figure digs and 14 total blocks, including two solo blocks and 12 assists. Nikki Lyons led the team with a career-high 22 kills, while tabbing eight errors in 52 attempts for a .269 hitting percentage. She marked her 4th double-double of the season as well with 12 digs. Heidi Dyer and Tarah Wylie also hit double-figure kills with 13 and 10 respectively, while Dyer also was good for her 4th double-double with 12 digs and Wylie tied for the team-high with five blocks and led with a career-high three aces. Becca Strehlow was consistent as always, dishing out 47 assists with 22 digs for her 10th double-double of the season and 45th of her career at Pepperdine. The senior also posted five kills and five blocks on the day. Then, against Gonzaga, Brooke Honeycutt led the Waves with eight kills, while posting an impressive .533 hitting percentage after tallying no errors in 15 total attempts. Wylie led with four blocks and Strehlow was good for 27 assists, six digs, seven kills and a season-high .636 success rate on the attack. The team hit .284 on the attack, while owning eight block assists and 24 digs.
FRESHMEN — This season, freshmen have made a commanding impact on the attack for the Waves, with Heidi Dyer, Nikki Lyons and Tarah Wylie leading the team with 2.81, 2.79 and 2.59 kills/set respectively. Dyer leads the pack with 197 kills and only 63 errors in 654 attempts for a .205 success rate. She also averages 2.1 digs/set, 0.4 blocks/set and is 2nd on the team with 217.5 points this season. Lyons is next for Pepperdine with 187 kills and 99 errors in 518 attempts. She has posted 11 service aces and posts 1.8 digs/set. Wylie impresses on both offense and defense with 184 kills and only 55 errors in 371 attempts. She ranks 3rd in the WCC with a .348 hitting percentage and leads the team with 76 total blocks, including six block solos and 70 assists. The middle blocker is also 2nd on the team with 17 total aces this season.
ROSTER — Along with a sizeable freshmen impact, the Waves average 13.5 kills/set, 12.6 assists/set, 1.2 aces/set, 16.1 digs/set and 2.2 blocks/set as a team. Becca Strehlow is the primary anchor for Pepperdine, dishing out 10.5 assists/set. An all-around performer, the senior setter also averages 1.3 kills/set (94 kills-18 errors-196 attempts), a .388 hitting percentage, 0.2 aces/set (13), 3.1 digs/set (219) and 0.8 blocks/set (2 solos-55 assists). Gaby Palmeri and Olivia Okoro also make quite an impact offensively and defensively. Palmeri posts 2.0 kills/set (133), 0.5 digs/set (34) and 0.5 blocks/set (2 solos-33 assists) and Okoro boasts 1.5 kills/set (73) and 0.8 blocks/set (1 solo-37 assists). Lara Dykstra is also one of many impacting Waves as she leads the team with 4.5 digs/set (316) and 0.4 aces/set (25). The senior libero is second on the team with 1.0 assists/set (74) as well.
HONORS — In the first four weeks of competition, setter Becca Strehlow earned a spot on the All-Tournament team, most recently for her performance in the Wyoming Invitational. Also at the USC Invitational, Strehlow alongside middle blocker Tarah Wylie received All-Tournament accolades. At the Lipscomb Invitational, Strehlow and libero Lara Dykstra tabbed All-Tournament honors. After Strehlow's performance setting up the Waves' offense in week one, she earned the season's first WCC Player of the Week honors. She was also named to the Preseason All-WCC team and returns to the court for her senior season after garnering All-American honorable mention status after the 2013 campaign. Also, the 2015 recruiting class ranked No. 22 in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com.
WCC — Pepperdine currently boasts a 11-6 overall record and 2-2 West Coast Conference record. Along with Strehlow's preseason honors, the Waves were picked to finish seventh this season in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll. BYU tabbed the top spot with 79 points and seven first-place votes and Santa Clara picked up 69 points and three first-place votes for the two-spot. San Diego, Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount round out the top five heading into 2015.
Scott Wong — Pepperdine alum Scott Wong was named head coach in December 2014, becoming the fifth head coach in program history. In his first outing on the sidelines for the Waves last weekend, Wong led the team to their first 4-0 undefeated start since the 2009 season, as well as an Asics Classic victory. Wong was an assistant with the Waves' men's program from 2005-09 (and was part of the 2005 NCAA championship-winning team) before moving back to his home state of Hawaii and serving as associate coach with the Rainbows' women's squad for five seasons. He was also Hawaii's sand volleyball head coach. Wong was a three-time All-American with the Waves between 1998-01.
2014 SEASON — In Troy Tanner's only season as head coach (he resigned following the season for family reasons), the Waves went 12-18 and finished seventh in the WCC with a 7-11 mark. Samantha Cash, Katie Messing and Becca Strehlow each made the All-WCC honorable mention team.
ALL-TIME DIVISION I TOP 25 RANKINGS — PrepVolleyball.com recently ranked the All-Time Top 25 Division I Programs for women's volleyball and Pepperdine ranked No. 21. Since the first Waves season in 1975, the program has finished in the top 25 rankings 19 total times, including 16 final top 25 rankings on the AVCA coaches poll which began in 1981. The program has finished ranked top 10 on eight separate occasions.
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 40 seasons, including 13 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 18 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. Nina Matthies, who stepped down after the 2013 season, will be inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame this December.
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 25 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 No. 52 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
