MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team hits the road this week to open West Coast Conference play with a pair of matches on Thursday and Saturday against Portland and Gonzaga respectively.
 
MATCH #11 — Thursday (September 20) at Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.: Pepperdine at Portland at 7 p.m. | Watch: TheW.tv
 
MATCH #12 — Saturday (September 22) at Charlotte Y. Martin Centre in Spokane, Wash.: Pepperdine at Gonzaga at 12 p.m. | Watch: TheW.tv.
 
LIVE — The match will have live stream available on TheW.tv and live stats as well.  All home matches will stream live on TheW.tv.  Direct links for all matches, including live statistics can be found on PepperdineWaves.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
 
SQUAD GOALS — The Waves have amassed a 6-4 record after four weeks of play, falling in last week's sole match at UC Irvine, 3-1.  As a team, Pepperdine produces 14.35 kills/set on a .273 success rate along with 13.53 assists/set, 1.68 aces/set, 14.88 digs/set and 1.62 bocks/set.  The Waves allow opponents 11.09 kills/set on a .197 output, along with 10.62 assists/set, 1.06 aces/set, 13.56 digs/set and 2.26 blocks/set. 
 
As a team, the Waves rank 12th nationally and 3rd in the conference with 14.35 kills/set, 10th nationally with 13.53 assists/set and 22nd nationally with a 0.273 hitting percentage so far this season.  Blossom Sato ranks 19th nationally after averaging 11.29 assists/set in 10 matches.  Tarah Wylie and Shannon Scully rank nationally in separate categories as well.
 
CANNONS — Shannon Scully, Hannah Frohling and Rachel Ahrens lead the Waves with 3.45, 3.16 and 2.88 kills/set averages respectively.  Scully was the first Wave to hit for 100-kills this season with 114 smashes marked on a .264 success rate.  She adds a team-high 13-aces for 0.39 aces/set, 2.76 digs/set and 0.30 blocks/set as well.  Frohling has marked a .241 hitting percentage on 98 kills, along with 0.35 aces/set, 1.19 digs/set and 0.45 blocks/set.  Ahrens is good for a .303 output on 95 smashes, 1.64 digs/set and 0.52 blocks/set.
 
MALIBU ROOFING COMPANY — Tarah Wylie and Alli O'Harra have been the main managers in the Malibu Roofing Company, amassing 0.76 and 0.74 blocks/set respectively.  Wylie has tallied 2.18 kills/set on a .351 hitting percentage, as well as 26 blocks including two solo rejections.  O'Harra has posted 1.96 kills/set on a .280 output, along with 20 blocks including two solos.  Ahrens, Frohling and Scully have also reached the double-figure block mark for the season with 17, 14 and 10 blocks respectively.  Rosie Ballo has also spent time in the middle this season, amassing 0.58 blocks/set for the Waves.
 
PLAYMAKERS — Blossom Sato is Pepperdine's primary playmaker, ranking 19th nationally with 11.29 assists/set.  She has dished out 384 total assists this season thus far.  She also has helped her team to 14.35 kills/set and a .273 success rate on the offensive, which both rank nationally.  She has also marked 0.41 kills/set and 2.09 digs/set.
 
DIGGERS — Hana Lishman has started in the libero position in all matches this season, totaling 128 digs for 3.76 digs/set. She has also added 23 assists for 0.68 assists/set and eight aces for the Waves.  In her first match this season, she was solid in the back line with 26 digs, and in eight matches this season she has marked double-figure digs.  Jaiden Farr and Madison Shields have also entered matches for defensive support, amassing 1.10 and 1.39 digs/set respectively
 
LAST WEEK, TODAY — Last week, the Waves fell in four sets at UC Irvine, winning the first set 25-21, but dropping the next three 22-25, 19-25 and 22-25 to lose.  Throughout the match, the Waves marked 56 kills on a .194 success rate, while adding six aces, five team blocks and 55 digs.  The opposition marked only 48 kills on a .220 hitting percentage, but outplayed the Waves defensive with eight aces, 14.0 team blocks and 64 digs.
 
Hannah Frohling led the Waves with 17 kills on a .265 clip, along with two aces and three digs.  Shannon Scully secured a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs as well as three blocks.  Rachel Ahrens also hit for double-figures with 15 kills on a .243 output, in addition to four digs and one block.  Tarah Wylie co-led the team with three blocks and added five kills and an ace.  Blossom Sato secured 46 assists for her team, as well as two aces and seven digs.  Hana Lishman had a team-best 14-digs throughout the match as well.
 
THE COMPETITION — 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 56-6 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 gone undefeated throughout non-conference play, boasting a perfect 12-0 record.  Last weekend, Portland defeated Sacramento State, Boise State and CSUN in Idaho.
 
The Waves have faced Gonzaga 62 times since 1987, with the Waves owning a 54-8 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 3-8 against opponents overall, with losses to Texas State, Arizona State and Northern Arizona University last weekend.