Waves Trek to San Francisco, Santa Clara
10/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
GAME NOTESMALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team will be traveling up north this week, challenging San Francisco on Thursday and Santa Clara on Saturday to continue West Coast Conference action.
MATCH #19 — Thursday (October 13) at the War Memorial at the Sobrato Center in San Francisco, Calif.: Pepperdine (7-11, 1-5 WCC) vs. San Francisco (4-15, 0-6 WCC) at 7 p.m. (PT).
MATCH #20 — Saturday (October 15) at Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara (11-7, 2-4 WCC) at 1 p.m. (PT).
LIVE — All matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Direct links for all matches, including live statistics can be found on PepperdineWaves.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineSports.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
BY THE NUMBERS — The Waves currently hold a 7-11 overall record and a 1-5 record in West Coast Conference play. The team has gone 2-6 at home, 1-5 on the road and a perfect 4-0 in neutral settings. Pepperdine averages 11.65 kill/set on a .180 hitting percentage, while also tabbing 10.77 assists/set, 1.07 aces/set, 15.85 digs/set and 2.31 blocks/set. The Waves allow opponents a .180 success rate on the attack with 12.89 kills/set.
SOPHOMORE RETURNERS — The sophomore returners have played a big part for the Waves so far this season, with Heidi Dyer leading the pack with five triple-doubles to rank 1st in the conference and third in the nation. She has also posted five double-doubles this season and leads the team with 2.12 kills/set and 5.22 assists/set, while also amassing 2.25 digs/set and 0.52 blocks/set for an all-around effort. Tarah Wylie is also a big-impact player for the Waves, as the 6-5 middle blocker is second on the team with 0.99 blocks/set after rejecting 68 total attack attempts. She also leads the squad with 20 aces, averaging 0.29 aces/set. Lastly, Nikki Lyons has posted 2.16 kills/set, 2.39 digs/set and 0.39 blocks/set for the Waves after 18 matches played this season.
NEW SEASON, NEWCOMERS — The newcomers have been instrumental on the court for the Waves this season. Freshmen Jasmine Gross, Hana Lishman and Hannah Frohling all are key competitors. Gross leads the Waves with 1.24 blocks/set and 84 total blocks, ranking 1st in the conference in blocks and 2nd in blocks/set. She also leads the team with a .295 hitting percentage after posting 1.75 kills/set and has produced five aces. Lishman leads the Waves on the defensive with 3.63 digs/set and 258 total digs, while producing 14 double-figure dig matches and leading the Waves in digs in 13 matches this season. Frohling leads the freshman class with 2.03 kills/set and ranks second on the team with 142 total kills thus far. She has also added 1.10 digs/set and 0.41 blocks/set.
SAN FRANCISCO DONS — The Waves have produced a 55-7 overall record over the Dons all-time, beginning in the 1985 campaign when Pepperdine won the first match between the two teams 3-1. Pepperdine leads 28-3 at home and 27-4 on the road throughout history thus far. Including the 1985 win, the Waves went on a 16-match winning streak, including 13 of those matches in straight sets. USF won the first match of the 1993 season in five sets, but the Waves then went on a commanding 29-match winning streak from 1993-2007. From 2014-present, Pepperdine has won three in a row, all in four sets and two on the road. The Dons have gone 4-15 overall this season, including a 0-6 record in WCC action and a 2-7 overall record at home. The team is currently on a 10-match winning streak with the last nine-of-10 having been lost in straight sets. San Francisco averages 10.40 kills/set on a .162 attack output, while also producing 9.57 assists/set, 1.51 aces/set, 10.14 digs/set and 2.05 blocks/set.
SANTA CLARA BRONCOS — Pepperdine holds a 39-30 overall record against Santa Clara all-time, including a 21-11 record at home and a 16-15 record on the road, dating back to the first-ever match in 1982. The longest Waves' winning streak came from 1985 to 1988, when Pepperdine won seven in a row. There have also been two six-match winning streaks from 1989-1991 and 2001-03. Last season, the Broncos took both matches in straights sets. This season, SCU has gone 11-7 overall and 2-4 in WCC play, with a 0-1 home record. The team won nine-straight to start the season, before going on a seven-match losing streak. In the last two matches, the Broncos downed Portland in five and USF in three. The team averages a .230 hitting percentage with 12.60 kills/set, while also posting 11.70 assists/set, 1.43 aces/set, 14.70 digs/set and 2.26 blocks/set this season.
LAST WEEK: GONZAGA & PORTLAND — The Waves dropped two tough matches last week at home, first in four sets to Gonzaga and then in a five-set reverse-sweep to Portland. To open the week at home with Gonzaga, the Waves went down two sets early, 25-22 and 25-19, before battling back to win the third 25-19. The Zags then finished the match with a 25-18 final set to secure the conference win. The Waves produced a .199 hitting percentage with 55 kills and 20 errors on 176 swings, while adding 11.0 team blocks, four aces and 79 digs throughout the match. The Bulldogs posted a .225 success rate on the offensive with 63 kills and 22 errors in 182 swings. The opposition also posted 8.0 team blocks, two aces and 88 digs throughout the match. Freshman Jasmine Gross led the effort with career-best performances in three categories, with 11 kills, a .611 hitting percentage (11-0-18) and two aces, while also leading the team with six blocks. Junior Ashley Morgan also produced a career-high outing with 18 digs and sophomore Heidi Dyer finished the night with a double-double after putting up 10 kills and 29 assists. Junior Ashley Harris led the team with a career-best 12 kills.
Then on Saturday, Pepperdine went up two sets with 26-24 and 25-12 set wins, but the Pilots fought back to win the match in reverse-sweep fashion after posting 25-23, 25-18 and 15-10 final set scores. The Waves outperformed Portland on paper, with a .171 hitting percentage on 60 kills and 193 attempts, while adding five aces, 90 digs and 11.0 team blocks. The opposition amassed a .138 attack output with 59 kills on 195 swings, with five aces, 89 digs and 8.0 team blocks. Freshman Hannah Frohling led the Waves with 15 kills on a .256 hitting percentage, while sophomore Tarah Wylie also hit for double-figure kills with 12. Dyer and sophomore Jenna Tunnell put up double-doubles, as Dyer had 22 assists, 15 digs and nine kills and Tunnell tallied 26 assists, 19 digs and two aces.
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 with the Waves, he led the team to their first 4-0 undefeated start since the 2009 season, as well as an Asics Classic victory. In his first complete year, Wong led the Waves to a 17-14 overall record and 8-10 record among West Coast Conference competitors. He 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.
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 41 seasons, including 13 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 19 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, was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in December, 2015.
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. 50 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
