Notes |

MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team opens the 2017 campaign with the San Jose State/San Francisco Invitational this week. The Waves will first challenge Utah Valley and San Jose State on Friday in San Jose, before trekking to San Francisco to take on Fresno State at USF on Saturday.

MATCH #3 — Saturday (August 26) at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Fresno State at 4:30 p.m. (PT).

LIVE — The match against San Jose State will be live streamed. All other matches will have live stats available. 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.

OLD FACES — The Waves are returning 10 letterwinners, including five starters and a libero to the 2017 squad, while losing no starters and six letterwinners. Leading the pack of returning starters are juniors Heidi Dyer, Tarah Wylie and Nikki Lyons and sophomores Jasmine Gross, Hannah Frohling and Hana Lishman.

Dyer, a 6-2 outside hitter/setter combination, started all 30 matches in 2016 and served as the primary playmaker in a 6-2 system. She led the West Coast Conference and ranked 5th in the nation with six triple-doubles. Wylie, a 6-5 middle blocker, was an All-WCC honorable mention performer. She started all 30 matches, led the team with 0.23 aces/set and was second with 0.94 blocks/set. Lyons, a 6-3 outside hitter, appeared in 25 matches with 23 starts, totaled 2.01 kills/set, 2.26 digs/set and tabbed three double-doubles last season.

Gross, a 6-3 middle blocker, was an All-WCC first teamer last season. She became the Pepperdine women's volleyball rally scoring block leader with 154 blocks in a singles season. She also broke the all-time record for most blocks in a match with 15. Frohling, a 6-0 outside hitter led the Waves with 2.49 kills/set and 291 total kills. She also posted a team-high 15 double-figure kill matches. Lishman, a 5-8 libero, was key in the back row for the Waves as she led the team with 3.58 digs/set and 422 digs. She was the only player to play in all 118 sets.

Other key returners include senior Ashley Harris, juniors Jenna Tunnell and Adria Johnson and sophomores Jaiden Farr and Taylor Akason. Harris (6-7, opposite) appeared in 23 matches and averaged 1.36 kills/set and 0.67 blocks/set. Tunnell (5-11, setter/opposite) played in 29 matches and averaged 3.88 assists/set, 1.17 kills/set and 1.92 digs/set. Johnson (6-3, outside hitter) played in nine matches with 0.28 kills/set. Farr (5-11, outside hitter) appeared in 18 matches and posted 0.36 kills/set and 1.60 digs/set. Akason (6-0 opposite) redshirted the 2016 season.

NEW FACES — There are five new faces on the squad this season, including one junior transfer and four freshmen. Blossom Sato, a 5-8 setter transfer, joins the squad after two seasons at Mississippi State. While at MSU, she tabbed 1,840 career assists which ranked 7th in the MSU record books. She had a team-high 58 assists against Arkansas in the 2016 campaign. The freshmen are Lexi Barker (5-4, libero/defensive specialist), Alli O'Harra (6-3, middle blocker), Lex Palmer (6-0, middle blocker) and Grace Nielsen (6-4, middle blocker). Barker was a Washington Post All-Met second team performer and was named Concorde Conference Libero of the Year in 2016. O'Harra is a four-time 5A All-SIC honoree with two first team nods and two honorable mention selections. Palmer led Torrey Pines High School to a San Diego Open Division Championship in 2015 and marked 42 kills, 22 blocks and a .395 hitting percentage in her senior campaign. Nielsen was All-District first team in her sophomore and junior campaigns and received second team honors in her freshman outing. She led Lamar High School to HISD District Championships in her freshman and sophomore seasons.

THE SCOOP ON 2016 — The Waves posted a 13-17 overall record in 2016, tabbing a 7-11 West Coast Conference output. The team went 7-6 at home, 2-11 on the road and 4-0 on neutral courts. As a team, the Waves produced 12.33 kills/set, 11.36 assists/set, 1.02 aces/set, 15.75 digs/set, 2.46 blocks/set and 15.81 points/set. Hannah Frohling led the team with 291 kills to average 2.49 kills/set. Jasmine Gross led the squad with a record-setting 154 blocks, ranking first in the conference at 26th nationally. She added 14 block solos with 1.34 blocks/set. Tarah Wylie posted a team-best 0.23 aces/set with 27 total aces in 116 sets played. Heidi Dyer held down the playmaking duties with a team-high 619 assists to average 5.34 assists/set. Hana Lishman was instrumental in the back row with 422 total digs and 3.58 digs/set.

THE COMPETITION — The Waves have three matches on the docket to open the new season including head-to-heads with Utah Valley, San Jose State and Fresno State. The Waves faced Utah Valley for the first time in 2015, winning the match in straight sets at home. In 2016, the Wolverines went 16-14 and 10-4 in the Western Athletic Conference and averaged 15.85 points/set after posting 11.98 kills/set, 11.08 assists/set, 0.90 aces/set, 14.04 digs/set and 2.96 blocks/set. Pepperdine has played San Jose State on 12 occasions, posting a 9-3 all-time record against the Spartans. The two teams have each won two matches when playing in the Spartan Gym. The first time the teams faced was in 1976 when the Waves won 2-0, while the last time the Spartans and Waves met in 1994 on neutral courts, the opposition won in four sets. Last season, SJSU went 12-18 overall and 5-13 in the Mountain West, while amassing 12.22 kills/set, 11.55 assists/set, 1.06 aces/set, 13.38 digs/set, 2.44 blocks/set and 15.72 points/set. Pepperdine has played Fresno State seven times, collecting a 6-1 record since 1977 when the teams first met on neutral ground, resulting in a Waves' win. The Bulldogs and Waves last met in 2001 when Pepperdine swept Fresno State in Malibu. Last season, the Bulldogs went 15-14 overall and 6-12 in the Mountain West. The team totaled 12.4 kills/set, 11.4 assists/set, 1.7 aces/set, 12.1 digs/set and 2.1 blocks/set.

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 has 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.