Oct. 31, 2015 MORAGA, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team picked up the second straight West Coast Conference win this Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's College. The match, finished in straight-set fashion after posting 25-16, 25-22 and 25-23 set wins, puts the Waves at 15-10 overall and an even 6-6 in WCC play.
Freshman Nikki Lyons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) led the Waves for the second consecutive match after notching 13 kills and picked up her fourth double-double for Pepperdine with 11 digs.
Freshman Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS) and Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) were good for seven and six kills respectively. Wylie also picked up an impressive .417 hitting percentage while tabbing only two errors in 12 attempts, and tabbed three block assists and finished her second game in a row with two service aces. Dyer ended with a .217 success rate on the attack with only one error in 23 attempts, and tallied two service aces, two assists and nine digs for the Waves.
Senior setter Becca Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS/UCLA) remained consistent with another stellar performance after amassing six kills and 0 errors in 10 attempts for a .600 hitting percentage, along with 30 assists and 14 digs for her 14th 2015 double-double. Senior libero Lara Dykstra (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union HS) ended the day with a team-high 21 digs, marking her 20th match with double-figure digs and seventh match above the 20-dig mark.
Junior Brooke Honeycutt (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) and freshman Jenna Tunnell (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) posted five kills apiece. Honeycutt with a .417 hitting percentage after no kills in 12 attempts and Tunnell also leading with five block assists and one solo block.
Starting things off in the first set, Pepperdine and Saint Mary's went neck and neck to the 6-6 mark before the Waves began to pull away in exciting fashion. The team worked towards 16-9 advantage and continued to pummel the floor for a 25-16 set one victory.
The winning ways continued in the second set, despite the Waves falling to start to a 5-2 deficit. Saint Mary's eventually charted a 14-9 advantage, but Pepperdine would not roll over so easily. The Waves continued to fight, tying the score 15-15 and then going point for point through most of the set to amass a 25-22 set win and go up two sets to none over the Gael's.
The final set was the closest set of all, with the Waves picking up an 11-7 gain early on. The Gaels evened things up 16-16 and the teams once again went notch for notch to the 23-23 mark on a Strehlow kill. The Waves then took the next two points on a SMC bad set and attack error to close out the set and the match with a close 25-23 win, for the straight set victory.
Next, the Waves continue WCC play at home by hosting Gonzaga at home on November 5 at 7 p.m. Watch live and follow live stats by following this link: http://gowav.es/WVB2013. Also, follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter and Facebook for live updates, and go to PepperdineSports.com for the latest results and recaps.
