Women's Volleyball to Play Portland and Gonzaga
10/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Game Notes
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team will hit the road to continue West Coast Conference play this week. The Waves will start at Portland on Thursday and close up the weekend at Gonzaga on Saturday. Last weekend, Pepperdine had three high-intensity WCC battles, falling short to San Diego (2-3) on the road and Saint Mary's (1-3) at home before defeating Pacific (3-2) at home to finish the weekend on a positive note. The Waves are now 11-6 overall and an even 2-2 in WCC competition.
MATCH #18 — Thursday (October 8) at Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.: Pepperdine (11-6, 2-2 WCC) at Portland (11-5, 1-3 WCC) at 7 p.m.
MATCH #19 — Saturday (October 10) at Martin Centre in Spokane, Wash.: Pepperdine at Gonzaga (11-6, 2-2 WCC) at noon.
LIVE — Both matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Live statistics will also be available on PortlandPilots.com, GoZags.com and PepperdineSports.com
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineSports.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
OPPONENTS — Portland enters the match-up 11-5 overall and 1-3 in WCC play. The Pilots have lost the last three matches, first in four sets to Paciifc, then in five sets to Santa Clara and the team ended the weekend with a straight-set loss to San Francisco. As a team, Portland posts 12.8 kills/set, 12.0 assists/set, 1.5 aces/set, 16.4 digs/set and 2.4 blocks/set. Emily Liger leads the Pilots with 3.9 kills/set and owns a .246 hitting percentage. she also leads the team with 20 service aces. Brittney Markwith leads in blocking with 60 total blocks so far this season, while also adding 1.9 kills/set. Gonzaga heads into the week with an 11-6 overall record and an even 2-2 record within WCC competition. As a team, the Zags average 13.6 kills/set, 12.8 assists/set, 0.8 aces/set, 14.3 digs/set and 2.8 blocks/set. Savannah Blinn leads the team with 4.1 kills/set after posting 250 kills and 93 errors in 561 attempts for a .280 hitting percentage. She is also second on the team with 0.8 blocks/set. Kaylie Loewen leads the team with 1.1 blocks/set and is also good for 1.2 kills/set.
LAST WEEK— The Waves put out a 1-2 performance on the court last week, losing first at San Diego in a five-set showdown. Pepperdine then returned home, losing the first match-up against Saint Mary's, 1-3, and then earning the 3-2 thrilling victory against Pacific. Freshman Heidi Dyer led the offensive with 3.4 kill/set after posting 47 kills and only seven errors in 140 attempts for a .286 hitting percentage. She tabbed a career-high 19 kills at San Diego on Tuesday, and posted 12 and 16 kills against Saint Mary's and Pacific to close out the week. Freshmen Nikki Lyons and Tarah Wylie also posted big numbers, averaging 2.5 and 2.2 kills respectively. Seniors setter Becca Strehlow and libero Lara Dykstra were also as instrumental as always. Strehlow put up 10.6 assists, set, 0.9 kills/set, 3.8 digs/set, 0.9 blocks/set and three service aces, while Dykstra was good for 3.9 digs/set, 1.0 assists/set and four aces on the week.
ROSTER — The Waves have put forth quite the team effort so far this season, with both newcomers and returners spreading the wealth. Senior setter Becca Strehlow is a mainstay on the court, providing the Waves with several opportunities for success. She averages 10.5 assists/set, 3.0 digs/set, 1.3 kills/set, 0.8 blocks/set and 0.2 service aces/set in an all-around effort. Senior libero Lara Dykstra is also key in the back court, averaging 4.5 digs/set and a team-high 0.4 aces/set, while also posting 1.0 assists/set for Pepperdine. Junior Gaby Palmeri and senior Olivia Okoro also aid in the Waves' effort. Palmeri posts 2.0 kills/set and a .232 success rate on the attack while Okoro posts 1.5 kills/set and 0.8 block/set for the Waves.
FRESHMEN — Freshmen have been an instrumental part of the 2015 Waves this season, with three leading in kills. Heidi Dyer, Nikki Lyons and Tarah Wylie average 2.8, 2.7 and 2.6 kills/set respectively so far this season. Dyer has posted 178 kills and only 51 errors in 588 attempts for a .216 hitting percentage. She also averages 2.1 digs/set and 0.5 blocks/set. Lyons has posted 159 kills and 87 errors in 447 attempts, while also adding 1.8 digs/set, 0.3 blocks/set and is fourth on the team with 11 total aces. Wylie is also key in the starting lineup for Pepperdine with 169 kills and only 49 errors in 333 attempts for an impressive .360 hitting percentage. She also leads the team with 1.1 blocks/set including a team-high five solo blocks and 62 block assists.
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.
