Sept. 2, 2017

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

MALIBU, Calif. -- Blossom Sato led the Pepperdine women's volleyball team's offensive in the Waves 3-0 sweep over Weber State in Firestone Fieldhouse to close the Pepperdine-CSUN Challenge. The Waves posted 25-14, 25-15 and 25-21 final set scores.

Sato (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS/Mississippi State) distributed the offense towards three double-doubles, including one of her own, and four players towards double-figure kills. Sato marked 41 assists, 11 digs and two aces, while Nikki Lyons (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) and Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) to 13 and 11 kills and 11 and 13 digs respectively. Jasmine Gross (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) added 11 kills on a career-high .733 hitting percentage.

WAVES VS. WILDCATS

Pepperdine outperformed Weber State with a.304 hitting percentage on 49 smashes against a .163 attack output with 26 kills all day. In three sets, the Waves posted 49 assists, nine aces, 59 digs and 4.0 team blocks, while allowing the opposition 25 assists, two aces, 45 digs and 7.0 team blocks.

BIG PERFORMANCES

• Sato: 41 assists, 2 aces, 11 digs, 2 blocks, 1 kill
  
• Lyons: 13 kills, .200 hitting percentage, 11 digs, 1.000 service reception, 10 receptions
  
• Dyer: 11 kills, .429 hitting percentage, 13 digs, 3 aces
  
• Gross: 11 kills, .733 hitting percentage, 3 blocks, 3 digs
  
• Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou HS): 6 digs, 2 aces, 3 assists

PEPPERDINE-CSUN CHALLENGE ALL-TOURNAMENT

Blossom Sato and Hana Lishman were named to the Pepp-CSUN Challenge All-Tournament team.

Sato led the Waves through the weekend with three-consecutive double-doubles, amassing 10.82 assists/set, 4.09 digs/set, 0.55 blocks/set, 0.36 aces/set and 0.27 kills/set in 11 sets played. She totaled 119 assists, four aces, 45 digs, six blocks including one solo and three kills.

Lishman was solid in the back row with 2.91 digs/set, 1.27 assists/set and 0.27 aces/set throughout the weekend. She wsa good for 43 digs, three aces and 14 assists towards the Waves' effort.

PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET

Set K-E-TA (Pct)

1. 13-5-29 (.276)

2. 16-5-36 (.306)

3. 20-4-50 (.320)

WEBER STATE ATTACK BY SET

Set K-E-TA (Pct)

1. 7-4-26 (.115)

2. 6-2-34 (.118)

3. 13-3-44 (.227)

PLAY-BY-PLAY

The Waves had control of the match from the start of the first set, building an 11-4 advantage early on with three service aces and multiple kills from Lyons. Pepperdine continued to pound down on the offensive and another pair of service aces from Sato and Dyer helped the cause en route to a 21-12 lead. Frohling closed out the set with back-to-back smashes for the 25-14 set win to put the Waves up 1-0.

Pepperdine continued the advantage in the second set, pulling ahead 10-4 with a multitude of kills from the Waves' offense. The Waves continued to pound down with a .306 hitting percentage throughout with five kills from Dyer and four from Gross en route to a 25-15 set win and a 2-0 lead heading into the third set.

The Waves worked off the momentum of the first two set wins in the third as well, picking up a 12-9 lead to start it off. The opposition tallied some kills to attempt to close the gap, but Pepperdine held strong and maintained a lead with the help of Gross, Frohling and Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS). A final Lyons' kill and a denial by Gross and Sato sealed the deal and produced a 25-21 set three victory and 3-1 Waves' win to close the tournament.

NEXT UP

Next, Pepperdine will host the Asics Classic on September 8 and 9 against Washington, Wyoming and Missouri State in Firestone Fieldhouse.

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.