Women's Volleyball Hosts No. 11 San Diego on Tuesday
11/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team closes out the 2016 regular season this Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse, hosting the 11th-ranked San Diego Toreros on Senior Night.
MATCH #30 — Tuesday (November 22) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (12-17, 6-11 WCC) vs. No. 11 San Diego (24-4, 15-2 WCC) at 6 p.m. (PT).
LIVE — All matches will be streamed live on Wavecasts at 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 PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
THANK YOU SENIORS — Seniors Gaby Palmeri (10), Brooke Honeycutt (7) and Reegan Dennis (14) will all finish out their careers with Pepperdine this Tuesday. Palmeri will graduate as a double major with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Biology and Political Science. Honeycutt will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sports Administration. Dennis will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Medicine.
RECORDS WATCH — Freshman middle blocker Jasmine Gross has put in a stellar performance throughout her first season as a Wave. She has broken two records thus far, most recently she became the rally scoring era single-season block leader with 147 total blocks this season. She ranks 3rd all-time throughout both rally scoring and sideout scoring eras.
The rally scoring record for total blocks in a single was held since 2005 at 143 by Sophia Milo, while the blocks/set record is also held from Milo's '05 season at 1.38. All-time, the total blocks record is held by both Lesli Asplund and Barbara Stross with 158 blocks posted in the 1991 and 1992 seasons respectively. The blocks/set all-time record is held by Stross from the 1992 campaign when she tabbed 1.45 block/set through the season.
Earlier this season, Gross broke the all-time Pepperdine block record for both rally scoring and sideout scoring eras after posting 15 blocks in a single match against Pacific to lead the Waves to a five-set thrilling victory. The rally scoring record was previously held since 2003 when current Director of Operations Lyndsey Weisenberg (Hache') tabbed 13 blocks in five sets at Gonzaga. The sideout scoring and all-time record was 14 blocks in a single match, first set by Lesli Asplund against Santa Clara in 1991 and then tied by Carrie Romer against Colorado State in 1996.
BY THE NUMBERS — The Waves have gone 12-17 overall and 6-11 in the West Coast Conference this season, amassing a 6-6 record at home, a 2-11 record on the road and a perfect 4-0 record at neutral sites. The team averages 12.26 kills/set on a .192 hitting percentage, 11.30 assists/set, 1.02 aces/set, 15.75 digs/set and 2.41 blocks/set after 114 total matches played this season. Pepperdine has allowed opponents a .185 hitting percentage to this date as well.
FRESHMEN IMPACT — The Waves have a large freshmen impact this season, with Jasmine Gross, Hannah Frohling and Hana Lishman. Gross ranks 1st in the West Coast Conference in blocks and blocks/set and also ranks 15th in the nation with 147 total blocks; and 34th with 1.28 blocks/set. The Portland, Ore. native also picks up 1.90 kills/set on average with a .289 hitting percentage. Frohling leads the team with 2.47 kills/set after smashing down 279 kills with only 131 errors on 836 total attempts. She has also averaged 0.96 digs/set and 0.44 blocks/set for the Waves. Lishman is instrumental as libero in the back row for Pepperdine, tabbing 3.54 digs/set after digging up 403 total attack attempts this season. She has also put up 15 aces against opponents and added 95 assists for a 0.83 assists/set average.
SOPHOMORE RETURNERS — Heidi Dyer, Tarah Wylie and Jenna Tunnell are also making a large impact towards the Waves' successes this season. Dyer leads the team with 5.29 assists/set, and also picks up 1.91 kills/set, 2.54 digs/set and 0.54 blocks/set against opponents. Wylie is second on the team with 0.90 blocks/set after amassing 101 total blocks, and she leads the team with 0.24 aces/set after finding the floor for 27 total aces. The Indianapolis, Ind. native also is second on the team with 2.02 kills/set on a .273 hitting percentage this season.
NO. 11 SAN DIEGO — Pepperdine leads San Diego with a 39-28 overall record all-time, including a 24-11 record in Malibu and a 15-17 record down south. The two teams faced for the first time in 1979 when the Waves won 3-0. Pepperdine then went on a 20-match winning streak, including 18 straight set victories from 1979-92. USD collected the team's first victory in 1993 when the Toreros won in five sets on two occasions. In recent years, San Diego has had the edge and has won the last nine straight, including last season two wins, a five-setter at San Diego and a three-setter in Malibu. Earlier this season, the Toreros took down the Waves in a four-set match-up in San Diego. USD currently ranks 11th in the nation and 2nd in the WCC after putting up a 24-4 overall record and a 15-2 record in conference action. The team averages 14.99 kills/set on a .276 hitting percentage, 13.96 assists/set, 1.21 aces/set, 13.77 digs/set and 1.92 blocks/set against opponents.
LAST WEEK: LOYOLA MARYMOUNT — On Saturday, the Waves took on Wells Fargo PCH Cup rivals LMU, falling in four sets 25-22, 25-18, 19-25 and 25-23. The team produced a .264 hitting percentage with 58 kills, while adding 57 assists, two aces, 41 digs and 13.5 team blocks. The Lions posted a .261 attack output with 51 kills, and picked up 51 assists, 11 aces, 52 digs and 10.0 team blocks throughout the match.
Tarah Wylie led Pepperdine with 16 kills on a sterling .560 hitting percentage. She also tabbed three blocks including one solo rejection. Jasmine Gross and Hannah Frohling also hit for double-figure kills with 13 and 11 respectively. Gross tabbed a .440 hitting percentage and added a team-best nine blocks. Frohling amassed three digs and two blocks as well in the match. Heidi Dyer tabbed her eighth double-double in assists and digs with 23 assists and 10 digs and amassed five kills, one ace and four blocks, and Jenna Tunnell led the effort with 26 assists while adding eight digs, four blocks and five kills. Lastly, Hana Lishman led the effort with 15 digs in four sets of action.
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.
