MALIBU, Calif. — This week, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team will play in the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time in program history, facing Northern Iowa in an opening round match on Thursday.  Pending a win, the Waves will face the winner of #6 Wisconsin and Green Bay on Friday.
 
MATCH #30 — Thursday (November 29) at UW Field House in Madison, Wis.: Pepperdine vs. Northern Iowa at 3 p.m. PT | Host: University of Wisconsin
 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS —
Thursday, Nov. 29
3 p.m. PT - Pepperdine vs. Northern Iowa
5 p.m. PT - #6 Wisconsin vs. Green Bay
 
Friday, Nov. 30
5 p.m. PT - First-round winners
 
LIVE — Live stream and live stats will be available, courtesy of the NCAA.  Links can be found on PepperdineWaves.com.
 
TICKETS — All-session tickets for NCAA First and Second Round matches go on-sale beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Monday. Single-session tickets go on-sale beginning at 8:30 a.m. day of match. Tickets may be purchased in-person at the Wisconsin Athletic Ticket Office (Gate 1, Camp Randall Stadium), over-the-phone by calling 1-800-GO-BADGERS or 608-262-1440, or online at UWBadgers.com. Additionally, tickets will be sold at Gate C day of match.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
 
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.
 
WORLD ON FIRE — The Waves were particularly affected in many ways by the Woolsey Fire that raged through California, beginning on November 9.  After waking up the day after the Borderline massacre that claimed the life of Pepperdine student Alaina Housley, the team was then evacuated out of Malibu, the team gathered in a restaurant in San Clemente to discuss whether to finish the final four regular season matches.
 
" We wanted to keep playing for Malibu. We wanted to be a bright spot, to bring Malibu some positive light," junior outside hitter Hannah Frohling.
 
After the decision was made, the staff in the Department of Athletics came together to provide a 'normal' match-experience for the final three home matches, which included senior day.  With the help of UCLA's Wooden Center, the Waves hosted three of their final four matches and won all four to earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.  Seniors Blossom Sato, Heidi Dyer, Nikki Lyons and Jenna Tunnell were all celebrated prior to the Waves' win over Portland on November 17. 
 
The team returned to their Malibu residences on Saturday, November 25.  Read a well-written in-depth piece featuring interviews with senior Blossom Sato, junior Hannah Frohling and Head Coach Scott Wong on espnW here: https://gowav.es/2TQcI5A
 
WAVES IN THE NCAA TOURNEY — The last season the Waves made the tournament was 2012.  In that season, the Waves went 20-12 overall.  In 2011, Pepperdine made an NCAA Elite 8 appearance, finishing 6th nationally overall in the final rankings and sporting a 25-7 overall record.
 
This is the 23rd appearance for the Waves' all-time with the first-ever appearance occurring in the 1984 campaign under Head Coach Gary Sato, senior setter Blossom Sato's uncle.  Pepperdine has earned an appearance in 14 NCAA tournaments in the past 22-years.
 
WCC REPRESENT — Five teams from the West Coast Conference made the tournament, leading with #4-seeded BYU.  PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's and San Diego along with Pepperdine all earned an appearance in the first round.  This is the best representation for the league since the 2012 season when six teams went to the tournament.
 
SQUAD GOALS — The Waves finished the regular season with a 2nd-place finish in the West Coast Conference.  With a 14-4 record to close WCC 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 21-8 overall this season and has also posted a 12-1 record at home.  As a team, Pepperdine produces 13.52 kills/set on a .255 success rate along with 12.70 assists/set, 1.62 aces/set, 14.24 digs/set and 2.11 blocks/set.  The Waves have allowed opponents 11.79 kills/set on a .192 output, along with 11.30 assists/set, 1.02 aces/set, 13.80 digs/set and 2.15 blocks/set. 
 
As a team, the Waves rank in the top-67 of six statistical categories: 23rd with 1.62 aces/set, 31st with 0.255 hitting percentage, 48th with a .724 winning percentage, 58th with 165 total aces, 62nd with 12.70 assists/set and 67th with 13.52 kills/set.  Blossom Sato, Alli O'Harra and Hannah Frohling rank in the top-75 of one statistical category apiece with Sato ranking 38th with 10.81 assist/set, Frohling ranking 74thth with 0.37 aces/set and O'Harra ranking 67th with 1.19 blocks/set so far this season.  Altogether, five players rank in eight 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 1,250-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.  She now has 1,042 kills on the season.
 
ALL-WCC — The Waves had five players earn West Coast Conference postseason recognition this season, with Hannah Frohling and Blossom Sato garnering first team nods. Tarah Wylie and Shannon Scully picked up honorable mention status, while Rachel Ahrens was recognized on the WCC All-Freshman squad.
 
ACADEMIC HONORS — Hannah Frohling was picked to the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 squad.  She maintained a 3.945 grade point average while studying Sports Medicine for the Waves.  Although a junior on the court, Frohling has earned senior standing in the classroom.  Pepperdine had four Waves recognized on WCC All-Academic squads with Hannah Frohling highlighting with first team recognition.  Heidi Dyer, Alli O'Harra and Jaiden Farr also were recognized with honorable mention honors.
 
CANNONS — Hannah Frohling, Rachel Ahrens and Shannon Scully lead the Waves with 3.22, 3.27 and 3.28 kills/set averages respectively.  All three have totaled over 215-kills so far this season.  Frohling has amassed 316 kills with 115 errors on 800 swings for a .251 success rate.  She also leads the team with 0.37 aces/set and adds 0.99 digs/set and 0.47 blocks/set each match on average.  Ahrens has marked 216 smashes with 68 errors on 472 attempts to post a .314 clip.  She adds 0.26 aces/set, 1.33 digs/set and 0.71 blocks/set each match for the Waves.  Scully has put up 331 kills with 127 errors on 911 swings for a .224 output.  She adds 0.27 aces/set, 3.03 digs/set and 0.39 blocks/set. 
 
MALIBU ROOFING COMPANY — Alli O'Harra and Tarah Wylie have been the main managers in the Malibu Roofing Company, amassing 1.19 and 0.85 blocks/set respectively.  O'Harra has marked 113 total blocks with nine solo rejections, and adds 1.53 kills/set on a .237 success rate and 0.31 digs/set.  Wylie has been solid with 87 total rejections, including 10 solo jobs, while adding 2.01 kills/set on a .335 clip as well as 0.53 digs/set and 0.24 aces/set.
 
PLAYMAKERS — Blossom Sato is Pepperdine's primary playmaker, ranking 38th nationally with 10.81 assists/set.  She has dished out 1,103 total assists this season thus far, while ranking fourth on the team with 22 total aces for 0.22 aces/set.  She also has helped her team to 13.52 kills/set and a .255 success rate on the offensive, which both rank nationally.  She has marked 0.40 kills/set and 2.08 digs/set.
 
CAN YOU DIG IT? — Hana Lishman has started in the libero position in all matches this season, totaling 386 digs for 3.78 digs/set. She has also added 73 assists for 0.72 assists/set and 20 aces for the Waves.  In her three-year career thus-far, Lishman has amassed 1,250 total digs in 326 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 1.27 and 1.15 digs/set respectively.
 
THE LAST FOUR — Pepperdine has gone 8-1 to finish out the team's final nine-matches of the season, losing only a five-set thriller at Pacific on November 3.  Despite living out of a hotel for the final two weeks of their season, the Waves came together to overcome adversity and win their final four matches of the season in a span of just six days, including sweeps over Gonzaga and PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount, a four-set win over Portland and a five-set thrilling victory over San Diego to secure the 2nd place finish in the WCC. 
 
The Waves secured a 25-20, 25-16 and 25-15 win over Gonzaga after totaling 46 kills on a .330 success rate, with six aces, 55 digs and 4.0 team blocks and allowing only 31 kills on a .162 clip, with two aces, 42 digs and 6.0 blocks.  Shannon Scully led the team with 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while adding two aces and eight digs.  Hannah Frohling record 14 kills in the match, while Tarah Wylie was solid with three aces and two blocks.  Blossom Sato led the team with 35 assists and Hana Lishman and Madison Shields tabbed 15 and 12 digs respectively.
 
In the 25-23, 17-25, 25-17 and 25-23 win over Portland, Pepperdine was good for 56 smashes on a .270 success rate, while allowing the opposition 57 kills on a .267 clip.  The Waves picked up four aces, 61 digs and 6.0 team blocks, while allowing five aces, 59 digs and 5.0 blocks.  Scully led with 18 kills on a .286 output, while adding 10 digs.  Wylie impressed with 13 kills on a .571 hitting percentage, along with three aces and three blocks.  Alli O'Harra also marked three blocks, while Sato once again led with 47 assists and nine digs.  Lishman was unstoppable in the back row with 17 digs as well.
 
Against PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount, the Waves picked up a 25-21, 25-19 and 25-23 three-set victory, posting 41 kills on a .282 clip, with five aces, 40 digs and 6.0 blocks.  The Lions amassed 44 kills on a .259 output with two aces, 41 digs and 6.0 blocks in the match.  Scully led again with 14 kill on a .333 clip, with an ace and 12 digs.  Wylie snagged another three aces, while adding three blocks and six smashes on a .417 success rate.  Frohling was good for 10 kills and an ace and Sato dished out 32 assists and five digs to help the effort.
 
In the final regular season match, the Waves pulled ahead with 25-17 and 25-22 set wins against San Diego, but the Toreros countered with 25-18 and 25-22 set wins of the team's own.  After a fifth-set battle, the Waves came away with the 15-11 final set win and five-set overall victory.  Pepperdine finished the match with 57 kills on a .189 output, with nine aces, 57 digs and 13.0 team blocks.  USD was good for 60 kills on a .170 clip with three aces, 64 digs and 13.0 team blocks as well.  Scully led for the fourth-straight match with 16 kills and picked up her 13th double-double of the season with 11 digs.  She added three blocks and two aces as well.  Sato marked 40 assists and added three kills, seven digs, four blocks and an ace in the process.  Lishman produced 14 digs and added seven assists and an impressive three aces, while Wylie and O'Harra each tallied nine kills and six blocks. 
 
THE COMPETITION — The Waves hold a 2-1 record against Northern Iowa all-time, dating back to the 2000-campaign when Pepperdine won a three-setter at home.  In 2002, UNI took a five-set win on neutral courts, but the Waves countered with a 2005 four-set win at home.  This season, UNI has gone 24-9 overall and 16-2 in the MVC.  With four-set wins over Valparaiso and Illinois State, the team won the MVC Tournament last weekend. 
 
All-time, Pepperdine is 1-3 against Wisconsin, dating back to the 1989 season when the Badgers won a three-setter on neutral courts.  Since then, Wisconsin has won in 1995 and 2013, while the Waves picked up a three-set win on neutral courts in 2003.  Wisconsin has gone 22-6 overall, with a 15-5 overall record.  Most recently, the Badgers have won six-straight, featuring wins over #13 Purdue and #7 Penn State to close out the regular season.
 
The Waves and Green Bay have never faced.  This season, GB has posted a 20-10 record and a 13-3 record in the Horizon League.  The team defeated Illinois-Chicago and Northern Kentucky to win the league tournament last weekend.