MALIBU, Calif. — Hannah Frohling did more than lead the Pepperdine women's volleyball team to a thrilling five-set victory over Hawai'i in Firestone Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.  She marked a team-best 18-kills to reach 1,007 career kills, propelling the Waves to 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 18-25 and 15-6 final set scores for the impressive win. 
 
This is the first Waves' (17-8, 10-4 WCC) win over the Rainbow Wahine (16-8, 12-2 Big West) since the 1997 season, breaking a 13-match Hawai'i winning streak.  All four Waves' wins over Hawai'i since the 1976 season have been five-set victories.
 
Along with Frohling, Hana Lishman has also surpassed a 1,000 career milestone this season, currently working with 1,196 career digs.  In the match, three players hit for double-figure kills with Heidi Dyer and Shannon Scully collecting 15 and 10 apiece.  Scully added a double-double with 12 digs, as did Blossom Sato who posted 48 assists and 11 digs. 
 
After splitting the first four sets, Pepperdine came out firing in the fifth, putting up an unstoppable performance.  The Waves broke out to a staggering 7-1 lead with a big service effort from Sato to help the cause.  Frohling, Dyer and Tarah Wylie all laid down big kills throughout the set to propel the Waves to a 10-4 lead, and it was a lead the Rainbow Wahine would be unable to overcome.  Scully put two kills back-to-back up in the final moments and Frohling fittingly closed up shop with her final kill of the night and 1,007^th of her career to complete the 15-6 set win and the 3-2 match victory.
 
BIG WAVES
Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS): 18 kills, 2 aces, 7 digs
Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS): 15 kills, .342 hitting %, 5 aces, 6 digs, 3 blocks
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 10 kills, 12 digs, 1 block
Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS): 8 kills, 1 ace, 3 digs, 6 blocks (2 solos)
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 5 kills, 3 blocks
Blossom Sato (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS): 48 assists, 3 kills, 11 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou School): 17 digs, 3 assists, 45 service receptions with only 1 error (.978%)
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 4 digs
Jaiden Farr (Peterson, Utah/Morgan HS): 3 digs
Jenna Tunnell (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS): 3 kills
 
WAVES VS. RAINBOW WAHINE
Pepperdine posted a big attack effort over Hawai'i, posting 62 kills on a .228 success rate, while allowing 53 kills on a .197 clip.  The Waves led the court with nine aces and 66 digs, while the Rainbow Wahine were good for four aces and 64 digs.  Each team collected on 9.0 team blocks throughout the match, while the Waves led with 57 assists to the Wahine's 52.
 
Although the match statistics were nearly the same throughout, until the fifth set where Pepperdine amassed 10 kills on a .364 success rate and allowed only one kill on a -.167 output to Hawai'i. 
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          17         3          30         .467
2          9          5          37         .108
3          14         6          38         .211
4          12         9          35         .086
5          10         2          22         .364
TTL       62         25         162       .228
 
HAWAI'I ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          13         6          34         .206
2          14         6          41         .195
3          12         3          31         .290
4          13         3          33         .303
5          1          4          18         -.167
TTL       53         22         157       .197
 
NOTABLES

• All-time, Hawai'i leads Pepperdine 31-4, dating back to the 1976 season when the Rainbow Wahine won 2-1 on a neutral court.  This is the first win over the Rainbow Wahine since the 1997 season, breaking at 13-match winning streak.  All four Waves' wins over Hawai'i since the 1976 season have been five-set victories.
• Hannah Frohling has hit for double-figure kills in 15 matches this season and 55 throughout her career.  She leads the team with 3.35 kill/set and 34 aces overall.
• Frohling is currently at the 1,007 kill-mark in her career, surpassing the 1,000-career kill mark against Hawai'i in Malibu on November 6, 2018.
• Hana Lishman has put up 18 double-figure dig matches this season, with three above 20-digs, and 65 in her career.
• Lishman has amassed 1,196 digs throughout her career thus far.
• Blossom Sato has led the Waves in assists in all but one match this season including a career-high 59 in the home opener against Idaho. 
• Shannon Scully has posted 10 double-doubles this season, leading the Waves, including her most recent today with 10-kills and 12-digs.  She posted an impressive career-best output against Pacific on November 3, 2018 with 26-kills and 20-digs.
• On the season, Alli O'Harra leads the Waves with 1.25 blocks/set after amassing 100 total blocks with seven solo rejections. Tarah Wylie has marked 73 total blocks, including seven solo rejections for 0.84 blocks/set.
• Alli O'Harra has led the Waves in blocks for 17-consecutive matches this season, including seven of them with seven blocks or more. 
• Rachel Ahrens has posted 11 matches with double-figure kills this season and has led the Waves' attack in seven.

 

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine came out firing in the first set, and a .467 hitting percentage in the set certainly helped the cause.  Three players had four kills apiece in the set, starting with a 7-3 run to open the action on three kills and an ace from Hannah Frohling.  The Waves continued with high energy, seeing more kills from Frohling and Tarah Wylie, along with a pair of solo blocks from Wylie.  Late in the action, Wylie marked a service ace, and Heidi Dyer followed up with a pair of kills to make it a 25-19 first set win for the home team.
 
In the second set, the Waves had a sizeable lead to open the first set, amassing a 12-8 lead with kills from Dyer and Alli O'Harra and rejections from Wylie, O'Harra, Dyer and Blossom Sato.  The Rainbow Wahine countered late in the action, however, tying the score at 16's and eventually working towards a 25-20 set win to tie the match.
 
The third set was very much a see-saw battle from start to finish.  The Waves rolled out to an 8-3 lead with kills from Dyer, an ace from Frohling and a block collaboration from O'Harra and Sato.  The opposition countered once again late in the set to tie the match at 14's.  Hawai'i stayed close, however, and after overcoming a five-point deficit at the 17-22 mark, the Waves started to make the comeback.  Dyer picked up the smash to start the run and then marked an ace to put the Waves three away.  After an attack error from across the net, Hawai'i called a timeout, but Dyer was ready at the service line.  She posted back-to-back pairs of aces with a bad set from the Wahine mixed in to win the set 25-22 for Pepperdine.
 
With a 2-1 set lead, the Waves came out fighting in the fourth.  The Rainbow Wahine came out fighting as well, however, and eventually worked ahead to an 18-15 advantage.  The Waves put a few points together, but Hawai'i came out ahead 25-18 to force the fifth set Pepperdine would eventually win.
 
























NEXT UP
Next, Pepperdine hits the road for a short trip to PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 1 p.m.  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.