Women's Volleyball to Close 2015 Regular Season at BYU
11/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
GAME NOTES
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team will close out the 2015 regular season this Tuesday at BYU as the Waves challenge the Cougars (25-3, 15-2), a team ranked No. 11 on the AVCA coaches poll and at the top-spot in the West Coast Conference standings, at 6 p.m. Pepperdine is coming off a big PCH Cup battle with rivals Loyola Marymount this past Saturday, where the Waves fell in straight-sets. The Waves are 17-13 overall and 8-8 in WCC play heading into the final match-up.
MATCH #31 — Tuesday (November 24) at the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse - Provo, Utah: Pepperdine (17-13, 8-9 WCC) vs. BYU (25-3, 15-2) at 6 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.
BYU — The Cougars are ranked No. 11 on the AVCA National top 25 Coaches Poll this week after possessing a 25-3 overall record. The team also stands on top of the West Coast Conference standings after posting a 15-2 record within WCC play this season. The team is on a seven-game winning streak with the most recent wins being against Santa Clara and San Francisco last week. Alexa Gray leads BYU with 5.1 kills/set after tabbing 492 kills and 128 errors in 1210 attempts for a .301 hitting percentage. Amy Boswell leads the defensive effort with 126 block assists and 11 block solos, averaging 1.4 blocks/set. Camry Willardson serves as playmaker for the Cougars with 752 total assists to average 9.1 assists/set and Ciara Parker leads the team with 4.0 digs/set and 391 total digs on the season.
LAST MEETING — Pepperdine and BYU faced off last in late October, where the Cougars bested the Waves in a three-set showdown, 25-13, 25-19 and 25-16. Nikki Lyons led the Waves with nine kills, Becca Strehlow wasgood for 22 assists and 14 digs and Brooke Honeycutt led with four blocks on the day.
LAST WEEK — Last week, the Waves faced PCH Cup rivals Loyola Marymount, falling in straight sets (28-26, 25-20, 25-16) on the road. Nikki Lyons led the effort with 10 kills, while adding five digs. Tarah Wylie posted eight kills and led the team with a .263 hitting percentage after tabbing three errors in 19 total attempts. She also added one service aces and two blocks on the day. Becca Strehlow was the primary setter on the day, leading the team with 29 assists and Lara Dykstra was good for a team-high 16 digs in the match.
FRESHMEN — The Waves' freshmen put out a strong presence this season for the team, leading in attack output and success. Nikki Lyons, Heidi Dyer and Tarah Wylie all top the offensive for the Waves with Lyons leading the pack averaging 2.9 kills/set after amassing 301 kills and 162 errors in 822 attempts on the season. Dyer has tallied 288 kills and 105 errors in 1029 attempts, averaging 2.6 kills/set for Pepperdine. She also has tallied 15 aces, 238 digs (2.2 digs/set) and 41 total blocks on the year. Wylie is strong on both offense and defense, averaging 2.5 kills/set and 1.1 blocks/set this season. She has also tabbed 29 service aces and holds an impressive .335 success rate on the attack heading into the last match of the 2015 regular season.
ROSTER — Seniors Becca Strehlow and Lara Dykstra have been essential parts of the Waves' successes this year. Strehlow is an all-around competitor for Pepperdine, leading the team's offensive with 1139 total assists on the season and averaging 10.4 assists/set. She also posts 1.2 kills/set, 0.2 aces/set, 3.3 digs/set and 0.9 blocks/set for the team this season, while adding a .329 hitting percentage. Dykstra leads the team in the back row with 4.3 digs/set adn 481 total digs on the year. She also averages 0.3 aces/set after leading the team with 31 total aces, and helps out with 121 total assists to average 1.1 assists/set.
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 17-13 overall record and 8-9 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.
