Box Score MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team might have been down 2-1 in a West Coast Conference matchup at Gonzaga, but Tarah Wylie's 18 kills on a .818 success rate helped propel the Waves to a thrilling five-set win to open the road trip up north at Charlotte Y. Martin Centre.

After taking the first set 25-14, the Waves fell behind with 25-22 and 27-25 second and third set losses.  Pepperdine came back to win the fourth 25-22 and force a fifth set. 

In the fifth, Pepperdine came out swinging, with back-to-back kills from Rachel Ahrens and Wylie to open for a quick 6-2 lead.  A Bulldogs' timeout didn't slow the Waves roll, however, as Pepperdine continued with more smashes from Wylie and a few additions from Shannon Scully for a chance to close the game.  Ahrens would do the honors with a kill on the right side for the 15-6 set win and 3-2 overall victory.

This is the first five-set win by the Waves (12-10, 8-3 WCC) and the Zags (6-16, 0-10 WCC) fall to a 15-match losing streak.

Wylie led with her 18 kills and the new career-high .818 success rate, while also adding a pair of aces and three blocks.  Ahrens, Hannah Frohling and Scully also hit for double-figures with 16, 13 and 13 respectively.  Ahrens also added four aces and Scully picked up a double-double with 13 digs.

BIG WAVES
Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS): 18 kills, .818 hitting % 3 blocks, 2 aces, 2 digs
Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS): 13 kills, 2 aces, 3 digs
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 16 kills, .375 hitting %, 4 aces, 3 digs
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 13 kills, 1 ace, 2 blocks, 13 digs
Tayah Mahi (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS): 31 assists, 3 blocks, 6 digs, 2 kills
Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou School): 9 digs, 2 assists
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 29 assists, 3 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 5 kills, 4 blocks, 7 digs
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 11 digs, 2 assists
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 12 digs
 
WAVES VS. BULLDOGS
The Waves outperformed the Bulldogs in many facets of the match, leading with a .348 hitting percentage after putting 71 kills down, while the opposition only posted 54 kills on a .250 output.  Pepperdine also led with nine aces and 71 digs to Gonzaga's seven aces and 65 digs.  The home team did amass 8.0 team blocks, compared to the Waves' 7.0 team rejections.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          13        3          37        .270
2          15        3          32        .375
3          18        6          39        .308
4          13        2          32        .344
5          12        1          21        .524
TTL      71        15        161      .348
 
GONZAGA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          7          5          30        .067
2          16        4          32        .375
3          14        2          36        .333
4          14        4          32        .312
5          3          2          18        .056
TTL      54        17        148      .250
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves came out ready to play in the first set, amassing an 8-1 lead over the Zags after three-consecutive aces from Rachel Ahrens and then some.  Another ace from Ahrens later in the set, along with a block collaboration from Alli O'Harra and Shannon Scully helped the team to a 16-8 advantage.  After pulling ahead 22-12 on a kill and ace from Scully the Waves continued capitalizing on the Bulldogs mistakes en route to a 25-14 first set win.
 
The second set was much close, with each side going point-for-point towards a 14-14 tied score.  After an 18-18 tie, the home team started to pull away and Gonzaga finished the set off 25-22 to tie the overall match score.
 
The third set started and played similarly to the second, although the Zags had the momentum to pull ahead 20-17 at one point. The Waves started to counter with kills from Frohling and Wylie, to take the first set point opportunity. Gonzaga stayed alive through two set point opportunities by the Waves and were able to take the lead shortly after towards a 27-25 final set score and a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth.
 
The fourth set looked like it was going to be the same as the previous two, but Pepperdine pulled ahead late in the action towards an 18-16 advantage.  The Waves would continue to pound down en route to a solid 23-16 lead in the final moments.  Although the Zags pulled within two at the 24-22 mark, the Waves were able to finish it up with a 25-22 win to force the fifth set.
 
NEXT UP
On Saturday, the Waves make the trip over to Portland to challenge the Pilots at 12 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.