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Pepperdine University Athletics

Team (Photo By: Stephanie Chaisson)

Women's Volleyball

Pepperdine to Close Regular Season at #11 San Diego

Nov. 19, 2017

NOTES

MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team closes out the 2017 regular season with a weekday match-up against 11th-ranked San Diego on Tuesday down south. The match will stream live on TheW.tv.

MATCH #31 — Tuesday (November 21) at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. No. 11 San Diego at 6 p.m. (PT).

LIVE — The match will stream 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 PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.

BY THE NUMBERS — This season, Pepperdine has posted a 16-14 overall record and an even 8-9 West Coast Conference record. At home, the Waves have amassed a 9-6 record, while amassing a 4-7 record on the road and 3-1 output on neutral courts. Pepperdine averages 13.53 kills/set on a .223 output, along with 12.75 assists/set, 1.43 aces/set, 16.50 digs/set and 2.67 blocks/set this season.

RECORD-BREAKING GROSS — Jasmine Gross broke the Pepperdine women's volleyball all-time single season block record (including both sideout and rally scoring eras) with her 159th block of the season against Santa Clara on November 9. That record has stood at 158 blocks since the 1991 and 1992 seasons when Lesli Asplund and Barbara Stross broke it in 111 and 109 sets respectively. Gross currently has 175 blocks this season.

Gross also broke Pepperdine women's volleyball program's single season block record for the rally scoring era the Waves' match against Gonzaga on November 4, a record she had set in her 2016 freshman campaign at 154 blocks last season. Before 2016, the record stood at 143 blocks by Sophia Milo which happened in 2005.

Also, against San Francisco, Gross surpassed the Pepperdine women's volleyball all-time record for best hitting percentage in a single-match after putting up 13 kills with no errors on 15 swings. The previous rally scoring record has stood at .833 (16-1-18) when Sophia Milo did it in 2005 against San Francisco. The sideout scoring record has stood at .857 when Barbara Blizzard did it against Saint Mary's in 1988. Last season, she overcame the most-blocks in a single match record with 15 against Portland on October 29, 2016.

AMONG THE RANKS — Pepperdine ranks in the top-35 nationally in six statistical categories. The Waves collectively rank 14th with 294.0 total team blocks, 22nd with 38.37 team attacks/set, 23rd with 2.67 blocks/set, 28th with 1,411 team assists, 32nd with 4,221 total attacks and 34th with 1,496 team kills at this point in the season. Pepperdine also ranks atop the West Coast Conference statistical charts in digs/set (16.64), team assists, team attacks/set, team digs (1,830), team kills and total attacks.

Among individual ranks on the national charts, Jasmine Gross leads the Waves and conference by ranking 3rd nationally with 175 blocks and 7th with 1.55 blocks/set. Gross and Hannah Frohling collectively rank nationally in 10-separate statistical categories.

RETURNING IMPACT — Pepperdine has a wealth of returning players this season, including sophomores Jasmine Gross, Hannah Frohling and Hana Lishman, junior Heidi Dyer and senior Ashley Harris.

Gross is a leader on the court for the Waves, producing 1.54 blocks/set after posting 175 total blocks (27 solos) this season thus far. She also has marked 2.96 kills/set on a .353 success rate, 0.14 aces/set and 0.98 digs/set. Frohling leads the Waves' offensive with 3.66 kills/set on a .204 output and 0.29 aces/set. She also has put up 2.52 digs/set and 0.45 blocks/set. Lishman is big in the back row with 4.15 digs/set after tabbing 423 total digs. She also adds 0.27 aces/set with 28 aces.

Dyer is an all-around impact for Pepperdine, whether she's playing outside, right side or setting. She posts 1.66 kills/set, 4.89 assists/set, 0.17 aces/set, 2.31 digs/set and 0.68 blocks/set for the Waves this season. Harris is strong outside or on the right, putting up 1.84 kills/set and adding 0.88 blocks/set.

NEWCOMER TALENT — Newcomers Blossom Sato and Alli O'Harra have made quite the impact this season. Junior transfer Sato leads the team with 9.74 assists/set after putting up 721 assists. She adds 0.28 kills/set, 0.23 aces/set, 2.91 digs/set and 0.28 blocks/set for the Waves. Freshman O'Harra serves the Waves in the middle, posting 1.58 kills/set on a .248 success rate, along with 0.96 blocks/set.

AGAINST THE LIONS — Pepperdine fell to PCH Cup rivals Loyola Marymount in a four-set bout in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Lions came away with the WCC victory with 14-25, 25-15, 25-20 and 25-14 set wins. The Lions posted 55 kills on a .278 success rate, while adding 52 assists, nine aces, 58 digs and 6.0 team blocks. The Waves were good for 46 kills on a .246 success rate, along with 42 assists, three aces, 51 digs and 10.0 team blocks.

Hannah Frohling and Jasmine Gross led the Waves with 14 and 11 kills respectively. Frohling posted six digs and three blocks as well, while Gross marked a .526 hitting percentage as well as six digs and five blocks including a solo rejection. Alli O'Harra was also good for five blocks with one solo as well as six kills. Heidi Dyer tallied nine kills on a .318 output, along with 12 digs. Hana Lishman led the team with 11 digs and Blossom Sato tabbed 33 assists, two kills, four digs and two blocks for the Waves.

THE COMPETITION — The Waves hold a 40-29 all-time record against San Diego this season including a 20-match winning streak from 1979-92 to open the action. USD won five-matches straight from 1993-95 and again from 1996-98, but the Waves rebutted with an 11-match streak. From 2012-16, the Toreros defeated the Waves nine-consecutive times, but Pepperdine broke that streak against then-ranked No. 11 San Diego in 2016 with a 3-1 win in Malibu. USD currently has a 23-4 overall record and a 16-1 WCC record to rank 11th nationally and is tied for 2nd in the conference. Earlier this season, the Toreros and Waves went to a five-set battle, but USD prevailed with the victory.

SNAPCHAT FAMOUS — The NCAA rolled out a new initiative highlighting a day in the life of a student-athlete on Snapchat for the first time on the Waves' game day with Long Beach State. Pepperdine, with Hannah Frohling at the helm, took over the controls of @ncaasports Snapchat on September 12 and showed the masses what it is to be a student-athlete in Malibu.

Heidi Dyer, THE TITANIUM WOMAN — Junior Heidi Dyer had an interesting road to NCAA Division I athletics and AVCA Beach All-American status. When she was 12, a major scoliosis curve of over 60 percent forced her to get corrective surgery. She had two titanium rods fused to her spine to keep her back straight. Despite her parents being told she would never play volleyball again and may never walk again, she defied all odds and became one of Pepperdine beach and indoor volleyball student-athletes. During the NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championships last season, TurnerSports and NCAA.com did a feature piece on her that streamed throughout the NCAA tournament and aired on TBS. It was voted one of the top-10 features on NCAA.com last season.

SATO NATION — Junior Blossom Sato comes from the very well-known Sato volleyball dynasty. Her mother Liane was a member of the US Women's National Team in 1988 and 1992 when the team captured the Olympic Games bronze medal. She now coaches Santa Monica High School. Her uncles Eric and Gary were also standouts in the sport, playing or coaching alongside legendary Pepperdine men's volleyball coach Marv Dunpnhy for Team USA when the squad won the gold in 1988. Eric was a member of the 1988 US Men's National Team that claimed gold and the 1992 squad that earned bronze. Gary, who is now an assistant for USC, served as the United States' Head Coach for the 1985 FIVB World Cup gold medal finish and served as an assistant for the US Men's National Team from 1984-88, 1992 and 2009-12.

GROSS' IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS — Sophomore Jasmine Gross is the daughter of Aaron Gross and Susan Campbell, who both are the head coaches of West Coast Conference competitors University of Portland men's and women's tennis teams respectively.

Scott Wong — Pepperdine alum Scott Wong was named head coach in December 2014, becoming the fifth head coach in program history. In first two seasons at the helm of the Waves, he amassed a 30-31 overall record for Pepperdine. 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 42 seasons, including 13 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 20 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.

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Players Mentioned

Blossom Sato

#2 Blossom Sato

S
5' 8"
Junior
1V
Alli O

#7 Alli O'Harra

MB
6' 3"
Freshman
1V
Hannah Frohling

#1 Hannah Frohling

OH
6' 0"
Freshman
Jasmine Gross

#9 Jasmine Gross

MB
6' 3"
Freshman
Hana Lishman

#11 Hana Lishman

L
5' 8"
Freshman
Ashley Harris

#21 Ashley Harris

OH
6' 7"
Junior
Heidi Dyer

#4 Heidi Dyer

OH
6' 2"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Blossom Sato

#2 Blossom Sato

5' 8"
Junior
1V
S
Alli O

#7 Alli O'Harra

6' 3"
Freshman
1V
MB
Hannah Frohling

#1 Hannah Frohling

6' 0"
Freshman
OH
Jasmine Gross

#9 Jasmine Gross

6' 3"
Freshman
MB
Hana Lishman

#11 Hana Lishman

5' 8"
Freshman
L
Ashley Harris

#21 Ashley Harris

6' 7"
Junior
OH
Heidi Dyer

#4 Heidi Dyer

6' 2"
Freshman
OH