Women's Volleyball Splits Opening Day in San Jose

Friday, August 25

San Jose, Calif.

2:00 PM

Pepperdine University

Utah Valley

Hannah Frohling (1), Jasmine Gross (9) (Photo by Martin A. Folb)

8/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Aug. 25, 2017

Final Stats

Stats vs. Utah Valley | Stats vs. San Jose State

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team split opening day of the 2017 campaign with a four-set win over Utah Valley and a tough five-set loss in the Spartan Gym at the San Jose State Invitational on Friday.

In the first match against Utah Valley, the Waves (1-1) tallied 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 and 29-27 final set scores to earn the team's first win of the season. Sophomore Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS) impressed with her first double-double of the season and second of her career after marking 20 kills on a .340 output and a career-high 16 digs. Sophomore Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou HS) was one-shy of her career-best with 22 digs towards the effort and freshman Lexi Barker (Oakton, Va./Oakton HS) led the squad with four aces.

In the second and final match of the night, Pepperdine marked 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21 and 16-18 set scores to close day one of the season with a loss. Junior Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) led the team with 16 kills on a .289 success rate. Junior transfer Blossom Sato (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS/Mississippi State) posted her first Waves' career double-double with 47 assists and 15 digs and Lishman once again led with 17 digs.

MATCH 1: UTAH VALLEY

The Waves opened the day and the season with a solid 3-1 victory over Utah Valley after tabbing 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 and 29-27 final set scores. As a team, Pepperdine posted a .228 hitting percentage after marking 62 kills and 23 errors on 171 total swings. The team also added 58 assists, 13 aces, 70 digs and 12.0 team blocks. The Waves 13 aces is tied for second in the Pepperdine women's volleyball record books for most aces in a single match during the rally scoring era. The record stands at 16 which occurred at San Diego in 2007.

The opposition posted a .174 hitting percentage with 47 kills and 21 errors on 149 attempts. The team added 39 assists, five aces, 60 digs and 12.0 team blocks.

BIG PERFORMANCES VS. UTAH VALLEY

Frohling " 20 kills, 16 digs, .340 hitting percentage, 3 aces, four blocks (1 solo)
Jasmine Gross (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) " 15 kills, 7 blocks (2 solos), .400 hitting percentage
Blossom Sato (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS/Mississippi State) " 54 assists, 3 aces, 6 digs
Lishman " 22 digs, 3 assists
Barker " 10 digs, 4 aces
Ashley Harris (Petaluma, Calif./Casa Grande HS/Arizona) " 11 kills

UVU PLAY-BY-PLAY

The Waves came out strong in the first set, fueled by a big serving output by Frohling, including an ace and a pair of kills from Gross. After a few late ties on the back-end of the first set, strong back-to-back services from Lishman and Barker put Utah Valley under 25-18.

Pepperdine jumped out early in the second set, but a big attack effort from across the net gave UVU the advantage for a close 25-23 set win to tie the match.

In the third set, it was an even tie through to the 7-7 mark, when the Waves broke away on three consecutive kills from Frohling and an ace delivered by Barker. The Waves continued to roll on to a 20-10 advantage with the help of a pair of aces by Sato and a kill from Harris. After a late UVU comeback attempts, Pepperdine put the set away with three kills by junior Nikki Lyons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS), 25-20.

In the fourth and final set, Pepperdine broke ahead early en route to a 12-5 advantage. The team continued to keep a wide gap with blocks from freshman Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS) and kills from Gross and Lyons. As the set was coming to a close, the opposition once again put in the comeback effort to tie things up 25-25. After a few back-and-forth sequences a kill from Gross put the set away 29-27 to give the Waves the first win of the season.

MATCH 2: SAN JOSE STATE

In the second match of the day, the Waves fell 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-18 with a more-than-close bout in the final set. On the night, Pepperdine posted a .273 hitting percentage with 62 kills and 18 errors on 161 swings. The team added 58 assists, six aces, 61 digs and 9.0 team blocks. The opposition collected 65 kills and 22 errors on a .269 success rate. The Spartans added 59 assists, eight aces, 65 digs and 10.5 blocks.

BIG PERFORMANCES VS. SAN JOSE STATE

Dyer " 16 kills, .289 hitting percentage
Frohling " 14 kills, 9 digs, 1 ace
Sato " 47 assists, 15 digs, 4 kills, .800 hitting percentage
Gross " 11 kills, .286 hitting percentage, 5 blocks
Lishman " 17 digs, 6 assists, 2 aces
Harris " 8 kills, 4 blocks
Nielsen " 7 kills, .700 hitting percentage, 3 blocks (1 solo)

SJSU PLAY-BY-PLAY

In the first set, each team came out strong, going head-to-head to a 6-6 tie. After staying close throughout, the Waves pulled ahead and maintained at least a one-point advantage through the 18-18 mark. After a 20-20 tie, the Waves let loose and a pair of blocks from Gross with either Frohling or Harris gave the team a 25-20 set win to open the match.

The Spartans pulled ahead early in the second set with a 10-2 mark. Despite a big effort by the Waves to come back, the opposition took a 25-20 set win to even things up.

In the third, the teams faced off through 6-6, 11-11 and 19-19 tie scores. At the back end of the set with a 23-23 tie score with the help of a few Dyer smashes, the opposition pulled ahead for the advantage and took a 25-23 win to go up 2-1 on the night.

It was another head-to-head battle in the fourth set as the Waves and Spartans fought for an 8-8 tie early. Pepperdine held a lead throughout the entire set, but San Jose was one to three points behind the whole time. Late in the set with a 21-20 advantage, Harris marked a kill, Gross and Dyer combined for a "Malibu Roofing Company' rejection and Lishman tabbed an ace to make it set-point. A service error did the trick and made it a five-setter on a 25-21 set four victory.

The fifth and final set was close. The Waves pulled ahead early, but the opposition evened the set and took a three-point lead at the 11-8 mark. Kills from Sato and back-to-back blocks from freshman Grace Nielsen (Cypress, Texas/Mirabeau B. Lamar HS) evened things up 11-11. Each side then continued to collect points, but a service and attack error late in the set resulted in a Spartan win and the Waves first loss of the season.

NEXT UP

The Waves will trek to San Francisco to take on Fresno State at 4:30 p.m. (PT) tomorrow, August 26 at USF.

Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @WavesVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @peppvolley. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.