PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team finished the Panther Challenge at Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday, first sweeping Butler in an early morning matchup before falling to tournament-host #20 Pitt in the afternoon.
Shannon Scully and
Blossom Sato earned positions on the All-Tournament Team.
PEPPERDINE vs. BUTLER
BIG WAVES
Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS): 14 kills, .385 hitting %, 2 aces, 1 block
Blossom Sato (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS): 40 assists, 7 digs, 1 ace
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 11 kills, 1 ace, 9 digs
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 8 kills, .438 hitting %, 1 ace, 11 digs, 2 blocks
Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS): 7 kills, .545 hitting %
Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou School): 13 digs
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 7 kills, .500 hitting %, 2 blocks, 2 digs
WAVES VS. BULLDOGS
The Waves were unstoppable on the attack front, amassing 48 kills on a .340 success rate, while allowing only 31 kills on a .158 clip. Pepperdine put in 45 assists, five aces, 52 digs and 3.0 team blocks, with the opposition marking 29 assists, three aces, 37 digs and 10.0 team blocks.
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 15 5 38 .263
2 16 4 34 .353
3 17 4 31 .419
TTL 48 13 103 .340
BUTLER ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 10 5 36 .139
2 10 5 38 .132
3 11 5 27 .222
TTL 31 15 101 .158
PEPPERDINE at #20 PITT
BIG WAVES
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 11 kills, 1 ace, 9 digs
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 11 kills, .381 hitting %, 9 digs, 1 block
Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS): 8 kills, 3 blocks
Blossom Sato (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS): 30 assists, 3 digs
Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou School): 6 digs, 3 assists
Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS): 3 kills, 2 blocks
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 4 kills, 1 block
WAVES VS. PANTHERS
Pitt led in all areas of the game, gathering 42 kills on a .364 success rate, along with 42 assists, three aces, 43 digs and 11.0 team blocks. Pepperdine finished the Challenge with 38 kills on a .183 output, as well as 35 assists, 1 aces, 30 digs and 4.0 blocks.
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 17 6 36 .306
2 12 7 37 .135
3 9 5 36 .111
TTL 38 18 109 .183
PITT ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 13 5 30 .267
2 13 3 30 .333
3 16 2 28 .500
TTL 42 10 88 .364
NOTABLES
- This was the first time Pepperdine has played Butler all-time, now holding a 1-0 overall record against.
- The Waves have a 3-2 record against Pitt all-time. The first match was played in 1979 on a neutral court with Pepperdine winning 2-1.
- Shannon Scully has posted three double-figure kill matches this season with one double-double.
- Hannah Frohling has tallied one double-figure kill match this season, and 41 in her career.
- Hana Lishman has put up two double-figure dig matches, with one above 20-digs this season, and 49 in her career.
- Blossom Sato has led the Waves in assists in all matches this season including a career-high 55 in the season opener against #24 Cal Poly.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
In the first match, Pepperdine came out of the starting gate ready to play. After going point-for-point en route to a 9-9 tie, the Waves got on a roll and kills from
Hannah Frohling and
Rachel Ahrens helped the team to an 18-15 lead. After working over the 20-point mark, Frohling,
Tarah Wylie and
Shannon Scully put the hammer down, smashing the Waves to a 25-20 first set win.
A big service effort from Scully to open the second set including an ace and kills from Frohling and
Blossom Sato helped the team to a 15-8 advantage. Late in the action, a block collaboration from Ahrens and
Alli O'Harra propelled the Waves forward and a final smash from O'Harra put Pepperdine ahead 2-0 with a 25-17 second set win.
In the third set, more big service efforts from
Hana Lishman and O'Harra put the opposition on edge and gave the Waves a good start to the final set. After leading 13-6 courtesy of a Sato ace, the Waves continued on towards a 20-12 lead. Scully delivered the final kill for the 25-18 set win and the first sweep of the 2018 season.
Despite the Waves going point-for-point early in the match against Pitt, the home team had the advantage through a majority of the match. After a 10-10 tie that turned in to a 20-20 tie courtesy of big attack efforts by Scully and Ahrens, the Panthers earned the first late advantage to lead 24-22. The Waves battled for a point, but eventually fell 25-23 in the first set.
The Waves were close behind in the second set, but Pitt pulled away to eventually lead 20-11 late in the action. After a late comeback attempt including smashes from Frohling and Wylie, the Panthers closed the door and came away with a 25-20 second set win.
In the third and final set, the home team jumped out to a quick 11-5 lead. Pepperdine started to close the gap, but was unable to overcome the deficit, and the Panthers eventually won the third set 25-13 and match in three sets.
NEXT UP
Next week, Pepperdine hosts the annual Asics Classic in Firestone Fieldhouse from Aug. 31-Sep. 2, welcoming Idaho, North Texas and CSUN to Malibu. 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.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
