Final Stats

MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team ended the Wyoming Invitational on a positive note after defeating McNeese State in straight sets, 25-23, 25-21 and 25-17.

As a team, the Waves tabbed 47 kills and only 19 errors in 102 total attempts for a .275 hitting percentage. The team amassed 8.0 total team blocks, including 14 assists and one solo and 39 digs on the day.

Freshman outside hitter Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./ led the attack with a commanding 14 kills for 15.0 points on the day. She ended with a .286 hitting percentage after tabbing only four errors in 35 total attempts. Freshman middle blocker Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS) amassed a .235 success rate on the attack with eight kills (4 errors-17 attempts), while leading the defense with five block assists. She also led the team with two service aces.

Senior Becca Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson HS/UCLA) was as stellar as ever on the floor with 40 assists, five kills, eight digs, four block assists and one block solo. She accumulated a .500 hitting percentage on the day.

Junior outside hitter Gaby Palmeri (Davis, Calif./St. Francis HS) and freshman outside hitter Nikki Lyons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) also aided in the Waves effort with six and five kills apiece. Junior middle blocker Brooke Honeycutt (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) went 4-for-6 on the offensive to finish with a .500 attack percentage.

Despite a close start to the first set of the match, the Waves maintained the slight advantage through play. A slight advantage it would stay however, as Pepperdine eventually bested the opposition by a close 25-23 margin to go up 1-0 in the match.

The Waves went down 4-0 to start the second set, but battled back to tie things up 5-5 and again work towards a small advantage. Consistency was key for Pepperdine as they kept battling and maintaining the edge without letting McNeese take the lead. The Waves went up 2-0 in the match after putting the second set in the books with a 25-21 decision.

MSU put out strong competition in the last set to attempt to stay in the match, but Pepperdine was ready to close out the Wyoming Invitational with a win. A four-point run early in the set put the Waves up 9-5, and it was a lead the team was sure not to lose. Pepperdine worked for a sizable 22-14 lead later in the set, and kept pounding down the offensive to finish up with a 25-17 victory.

Next, the Waves return to Malibu on September 26 at 1 p.m. to open West Coast Conference play against Loyola Marymount. Live stream and live statistics will be available for the match.