Nov. 7, 2015 Final Stats
Highlights
Senior Video
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team took a hard loss in the Firestone Fieldhouse this Saturday on as the Waves dropped a 3-2 match-up to West Coast Conference opponents Portland.
Three Pepperdine seniors, Lara Dykstra, Olivia Okoro and Becca Strehlow, along with Pilots' senior Emily Liger, were honored prior to first serve for their respective efforts on the court in the current and past seasons.
The Waves (16-11, 7-7 WCC) and Pilots (14-11, 4-9 WCC) were evenly matched, splitting the first two sets, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22 and 22-25 before falling 11-15 in the final set. With the score tied 2-2 heading in to the fifth set, the Waves needed to come out strong to earn the win. The Pilots were hard to match, amassing an 8-4 lead early on. The Waves attempted a comeback and with senior Dykstra at the service line, Pepperdine was close at the 9-12 mark before the Pilots buckled down and put the set away.
Dykstra (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union HS/Nebraska) and Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS/UCLA) excelled on the court for the Waves. Dykstra tabbed 17 digs and seven assists. Strehlow led the team with her 15th double-double season after tallying 52 assists and a career-high 30 digs.
Freshman Jenna Tunnell (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) led the Waves with a season-high 14 kill, while adding five digs and two block assists. Junior Brooke Honeycutt (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) was next for the team with 13 kills, and with only one error in 25 attempts, posted an impressive .480 hitting percentage.
Freshmen Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) and Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS) also hit for double figure kills with 12 apiece. Dyer added her 4th season double-double with a season-high 21 digs. Wylie ended the day with a .296 success rate on the attack after posting four errors in 27 attempts, and tabbed four digs, one block solo and one block assist.
Sophomore Ashley Morgan (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Canyon HS) aided to the effort with 11 digs, junior Gaby Palmeri (Davis, Calif./St. Francis HS) helped with nine kills and a .316 hitting percentage and freshman Nikki Lyons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) finished up the home season with seven kills and five digs.
It was a close match throughout all five sets. Portland came out strong in the first set, picking up a 10-6 lead early. The Waves worked hard in the middle of the set, picking up a 13-9 run over the Pilots to tie the set 19-19. Two kills apiece by Tunnell and Lyons and a smash by Wylie ended the set in the Waves favor 25-20.
In the next set, Pepperdine and Portland went neck-and-neck to start, seeing a 10-10 tie that turned into a 15-15 tie. After the score reached 18-18, the Pilots did some work at the service line as Mikaela Nocetti recorded eight services to help her team even the match 1-1 with a 25-19 UP set win.
In the third set, the story was relatively similar to the first two sets, with the score marking a 10-10 tie. Pepperdine began to break away from there, however, extending the lead to 21-18 late in the set. It was a close bout to end the set, but the Waves prevailed, ending the set on a Strehlow, Wylie block that gave the team a 25-22 set win.
The Waves came out hot in the fourth set after building a 2-1 set advantage, eventually earning a 16-7 lead later in the set. Strong performances by the opposition let the Pilots back in the set enough to finish things off with a 25-22 set win to send the match into the fifth set and eventually end the day with a WCC five-set win.
Next, the Waves finish the 2015 campaign on the road, beginning with WCC play at San Francisco at 7 p.m. on November 12. 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.
