Pepperdine Hosts Santa Clara, San Francisco
11/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
GAME NOTESMALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team has only four games remaining in the 2016 regular season. On this week's docket, the Waves will play two matches in Firestone Fieldhouse, first hosting Santa Clara on Thursday and then San Francisco on Saturday.
MATCH #27 — Thursday (November 10) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (10-16, 4-10 WCC) vs. Santa Clara (14-11, 5-8 WCC) at 7 p.m. (PT).
MATCH #28 — Saturday (November 12) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. San Francisco (4-22, 0-13 WCC) at 1 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.
RECORDS WATCH — Freshman middle blocker Jasmine Gross has put in an all-star performance throughout her first season as a Wave. She currently ranks 1st in the West Coast Conference in blocks and blocks/set. She also ranks 19th in the nation with 130 total blocks; and 34th in the nation with 1.31 blocks/set.
Gross recently 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.
With four matches left on the docket in the 2016 campaign and Gross' seasonal blocks still rolling in, the Waves took to the record books once again. She currently ranks 4th in the rally scoring era and 8th all-time with 130 blocks on the season. With 1.31 blocks/set, she ranks tied for 2nd in the rally scoring era and tied for 7th all-time. The rally scoring record for total blocks in a single is held at 143 by Sophia Milo who set the record in 2005, 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.
BY THE NUMBERS — The Waves are currently ranks 9th in the conference with a 10-16 overall record and 4-10 record in WCC action. The team has gone 4-6 in Malibu, 2-10 on the road and a perfect 4-0 on neutral courts this season. The Waves average 12.09 kills/set on a .185 hitting percentage, along with 11.14 assists/set, 0.99 aces/set, 15.84 digs/set and 2.35 blocks/set. The team allows opponents a .186 hitting percentage, which ranks 2nd among conference competitors. Pepperdine also ranks 1st in the conference as a team in digs/set and 2nd in blocks/set.
FRESHMEN IMPACT — The freshmen impact on the court has been heavy this season, with Jasmine Gross, Hannah Frohling and Hana Lishman leading the back. Along with Gross' record-break 15 blocks in a single match, she also ranks 19th in the nation and 1st in the WCC with 130 total blocks, and 34th in the nation and 1st in the conference with 1.31 blocks/set. She also leads the Waves with a .266 hitting percentage on top of 1.82 kills/set and has rejected opponents with 14 solo blocks and 116 block assists.
Frohling is the heavy hitter for the Waves this season, leading the team with 2.34 kills/set after tabbing 236 kills on 733 swings. She also posts 0.99 digs/set and 0.42 blocks/set for Pepperdine, and is the only Wave this season to hit over 20 kills with 22 at Gonzaga on November 5. Lishman is solid in the back row, leading the team with 3.54 digs/set and 361 total digs this season. She has also tabbed 13 aces to average 0.13 aces/set.
SOPHOMORE RETURNERS — Heidi Dyer has led the offense throughout the season, ranking 1st in the West Coast Conference and 5th in the nation with six triple-doubles on the season. She averages 2.01 kills/set on a .202 success rate, 5.24 assists/set, 2.49 digs/set and 0.52 blocks/set for the Waves. Fellow sophomores Tarah Wylie and Jenna Tunnell have also been key to the Waves' efforts this season. Wylie has tabbed 1.91 kills/set on a .251 attack output, while leading the team with 0.25 aces/set after finding the floor with 25 aces, and has amassed 0.89 blocks/set after posting seven solo blocks and 82 block assists. Tunnell came in late in the season to make an impact, tabbing 1.10 kills/set, 3.60 assists/set 0.12 aces/set, 1.79 digs/set and 0.38 blocks/set for the team. She ranks second on the team with 263 total assists at this point in the season.
SANTA CLARA BRONCOS — Pepperdine holds a 39-31 all-time record over Santa Clara, dating back to 1982 when the teams first faced off. The Waves are 21-11 at home against the Broncos. The longest winning streak for Pepperdine occurred from 1985-87 when the Waves won seven consecutive matches. From 2001-03, Pepperdine went on another six-match win stretch. In the last three battles, two in 2015 and one earlier this year on the road, the Broncos have bested the Waves. Santa Clara has gone 14-11 against opponents thus far this season, including a 5-8 run among conference competition. As a team, the Broncos average 12.67 kills on a .224 hitting percentage, 11.88 assists/set, 1.58 aces/set, 15.15 digs/set and 2.22 blocks/set.
SAN FRANCISCO DONS — The Waves command a 56-7 overall record against the Dons all-time, dating back to 1985 when the Waves won the first-ever match between the two teams 3-1. Pepperdine then went on to have two long undefeated bouts against USF, first winning 16-straight from 1985-92 and then 29-consecutive matches from 1993-2007. The Waves have won the last four-straight matches from 2014 to earlier this year in 2016 when Pepperdine downed the Dons in straight sets on the road. San Francisco has gone 4-22 overall and 0-13 in the West Coast Conference so far this season. As a team, the Dons post 10.24 kills/set on a .153 hitting percentage, 9.47 assists/set, 1.31 aces/set, 10.61 digs/set and 2.07 blocks/set against opponents.
LAST WEEK: PORTLAND & GONZAGA — The Waves put up two solid efforts last week, falling just short on both Thursday and Saturday however. Pepperdine was first felled in four sets at Portland before being downed in a five-set thriller at Gonzaga. Against Portland (23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 22-25), the team produced a .134 hitting percentage with 61 kills on 201 swings, while adding 54 assists, 104 digs and 7.0 team blocks. The opposition was good for a .123 attack output with 49 kills on 195 attempts, but added 47 assists, six aces, 95 digs and 14.0 team blocks to secure the victory. Hannah Frohling led the team with 16 kills and Heidi Dyer commanded the offense and defense with 21 assists and 24 digs for a double-double. Jenna Tunnell led the team with 22 assists and added 15 digs for the double-double, and Tarah Wylie was good for four blocks and 10 kills along with Gaby Palmeri. Hana Lishman also tabbed 23 digs and Jaiden Farr was good for 11.
Then, in the five-setter at Gonzaga (18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 18-25, 12-15), the Waves put up 66 kills on 173 attempts for a .260 hitting percentage. The team also amassed 62 assists, four aces, 68 digs and 8.0 team blocks throughout the match. The opposition tabbed a .283 success rate with 68 kills on 166 swings, while adding 66 assists, six aces, 74 digs and 14.0 team blocks for the win. Frohling once again led the Waves with a career-high 22 kills, and is the only Wave this season to have amassed over 20 kills at this point. Dyer tallied her sixth triple-double, ranking 5th in the nation and 1st in the WCC, after posting 14 kills (.393), 25 assists and 18 digs in the match. Wylie led the team with a .571 hitting percentage on 12 kills and Tunnell led the squad with 28 assists. Farr and Lishman also had double-figure digs with 14 and 10 respectively.
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.
