MALIBU, Calif. — This week and next week, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team will have three matches on the docket with Gonzaga, Portland and San Diego all scheduled on Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday respectively.
Due to recent events and the closure of campus until after the Thanksgiving holiday, all of the team's final matches will be played at Wooden Center. In addition, the match at Loyola Marymount has yet to be rescheduled.
MATCH #26 — Thursday (November 15) at Wooden Center in Westwood, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Gonzaga at 7:30 p.m.
MATCH #27 — Saturday (November 17) at Wooden Center in Westwood, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Portland at 11 a.m. | Senior Day
MATCH #28 — Tuesday (November 20) at Wooden Center in Westwood, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. San Diego at 7:30 p.m.
LIVE — There will be no video or audio broadcast for any of the three matches. Live tweeting, @WavesVolleyball, will be available throughout the match.
TICKETS — All matches free to the public.
CRISIS RELIEF — In the wake of recent crises within our community, we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support for our Pepperdine family. Many have asked how they can help and where they can give. Learn more: impact.pepperdine.edu/crisisresponse #PepperdineStrong
SENIOR DAY — Saturday will still serve as the team's senior day.
Heidi Dyer, Nicole Lyons,
Blossom Sato and
Jenna Tunnell will all be honored prior to the match.
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
SQUAD GOALS — With a 10-4 record to open West Coast Conference play this season, the Waves have marked the best league performance since 2011. In that year, the team went 15-1 overall to win the title outright, and kicked things off with a 13-match winning streak to start.
Pepperdine is 17-8 overall this season and has also posted a 9-1 record at home. As a team, Pepperdine produces 13.55 kills/set on a .254 success rate along with 12.78 assists/set, 1.62 aces/set, 14.24 digs/set and 2.14 blocks/set. The Waves have allowed opponents 11.62 kills/set on a .188 output, along with 11.13 assists/set, 1.06 aces/set, 13.82 digs/set and 2.17 blocks/set.
As a team, the Waves rank in the top-65 of four statistical categories: 25th with 1.62 aces/set, 33rd with 0.254 hitting percentage, 52nd with 12.78 assists/set and 63rd with 13.55 kills/set.
Blossom Sato, Alli O'Harra and
Hannah Frohling rank in the top-50 of one statistical category apiece with Sato ranking 34th with 10.91 assist/set, Frohling ranking 40th with 0.42 aces/set and O'Harra ranking 46th with 1.25 blocks/set so far this season. Altogether, six players rank in nine different categories this week.
MILESTONES — Hana Lishman and
Hannah Frohling have both surpassed career milestones this season. Lishman hit the 1,000-dig mark earlier in the season with 11-digs in three sets at Portland on September 20 and now has 1,196-digs at this point in the season. Frohling reached 1,000-kills while collecting 18-kills in the five-set thrilling win over Hawai'i at home On November 6.
CANNONS — Hannah Frohling, Rachel Ahrens and
Shannon Scully lead the Waves with 3.35, 3.29 and 3.10 kills/set averages respectively. All three have totaled over 200-kills so far this season. Frohling has amassed 281 kills with 97 errors on 694 swings for a .265 success rate. She also leads the team with 0.42 aces/set and adds 1.07 digs/set and 0.49 blocks/set each match on average. Ahrens has marked 207 smashes with 66 errors on 452 attempts to post a .312 clip. She adds 0.25 aces/set, 1.35 digs/set and 0.75 blocks/set each match for the Waves. Scully has put up 267 kills with 110 errors on 756 swings for a .208 output. She adds 0.26 aces/set, 3.08 digs/set and 0.49 blocks/set.
MALIBU ROOFING COMPANY — Alli O'Harra and
Tarah Wylie have been the main managers in the Malibu Roofing Company, amassing 1.25 and 0.84 blocks/set respectively. O'Harra has marked 100 total blocks with seven solo rejections, and adds 1.46 kills/set on a .223 success rate, 0.08 aces/set and 0.32 digs/set. Wylie has been solid with 73 total rejections, including seven solo jobs, while adding 1.99 kills/set on a .329 clip as well as 0.51 digs/set and 0.16 aces/set.
PLAYMAKERS — Blossom Sato is Pepperdine's primary playmaker, ranking 34th nationally with 10.91 assists/set. She has dished out 949 total assists this season thus far, while ranking third on the team with 21 total aces for 0.24 aces/set. She also has helped her team to 13.55 kills/set and a .254 success rate on the offensive, which both rank nationally. She has marked 0.37 kills/set and 2.16 digs/set.
CAN YOU DIG IT? — Hana Lishman has started in the libero position in all matches this season, totaling 332 digs for 3.82 digs/set. She has also added 62 assists for 0.71 assists/set and 17 aces for the Waves. In her three-year career thus-far, Lishman has amassed 1,196 total digs in 311 sets played. In her first match this season, she was solid in the back line with 26 digs, while against Santa Clara in the middle of the season she posted 21. In 19 matches this season she has marked double-figure digs with two over the 21-dig mark.
Madison Shields and
Jaiden Farr have also entered matches for defensive support, amassing 1.13 and 1.11 digs/set respectively.
LAST WEEK, TODAY — Last week, the Waves had a thrilling five-set defeat of Hawai'i at home, exchanging a pair of set wins with the Rainbow Wahine towards the fifth set after marking 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 18-25 set scores. In the fifth, the Waves started rolling early on and used the momentum to close out the match with the Waves' first win over UH since 1997 on top of a 15-6 final set statement.
The Waves marked 62 kills on a .228 success rate, while allowing the opposition 53 kills on a .197 clip. Pepperdine also led the floor with nine aces, 66 digs and 57 assists, while Hawai'i put up four aces, 64 digs and 52 assists. Each team collected nine blocks throughout the match.
Hannah Frohling led the team with a match-best 18-kills, reaching the 1,000 career kill mark in the process. She added two aces and seven digs as well.
Heidi Dyer and
Shannon Scully also hit for double-figure kills with 15 on a .342 and 10 on a .240 respectively. Dyer's big kill effort came with a career-best five aces, including four-near consecutive aces in the third set to win. She added six digs and three blocks.
Blossom Sato had a team-best 48 assists, while adding 11 digs, three blocks an ace and three kills.
Tarah Wylie led with six blocks, including two solo rejections and Scully added 12 digs.
Hana Lishman highlighted in the back row with 17 digs, as well as 45 successful service receptions with only one error.
The Waves were also scheduled to play a match at LMU, but due to the recent conditions, that match was postponed. A makeup date is yet to be scheduled.
THE COMPETITION — Portland and Gonzaga are each tied for 7th-place in the WCC standings this week. Pepperdine took wins over both of these teams earlier this season, with a sweep over Portland and a four-set win at Gonzaga. The Waves have faced Gonzaga 63 times since 1987, with the Waves owning a 55-8 overall record against. Pepperdine swept the first three matches ever played and continue with a 10-match winning streak through 1991. The longest Waves' winning streak came from 1997-2013 when Pepperdine took home 34-consecutive wins. Since 2014, the Waves have gone 3-5 against the Zags including a 3-1 win to finish in 2017. This season, the Bulldogs have gone 9-17 against opponents overall and 6-9 in WCC play.
Pepperdine and Portland have faced many times since the first-ever matchup in 1987 which the Waves won in straight-set fashion. Since then, the Waves have amassed a 57-6 overall record against the opposition. From 1987-91, Pepperdine won 10-straight before the Pilots took their first win in 1992 in five sets in Oregon. The Waves then won 41-consecutive matches over Portland from 1992-2015, including 28 by sweeps. Since 2015, the Pilots have posted four wins to the Waves most recent straight-set victory to close out the 2017 season. This year, the Pilots have amassed an 18-9 overall record and a 6-9 mark in league action.
Pepperdine leads
San Diego all-time with a 40-31 record, dating back to the 1979 season when the Waves won a 3-0 match in Malibu. From 1979-92, the Waves won 20-straight matches over the Toreros, including the first 14 by sweeps. Pepperdine went on another winning streak from 1998-2003 with 11-consecutive wins. The most recent streak came at nine-wins by San Diego from 2012-16. Last season, USD won both matches, with a five-set thriller in Firestone and a four-set win in San Diego. Earlier this season, the Toreros downed the Waves in three in San Diego. This season, USD is currently 2nd in the WCC standings with a 15-10 overall record and a 12-3 output in league play.
