MALIBU, Calif. – The 2019 Pepperdine women's volleyball schedule was released by Head Coach Scott Wong and his staff on Monday morning, with big competition in store and two home tournaments on the docket.
 
"The 2019 schedule is a great blend of conference opponents in addition to a challenging non-conference schedule," said Wong.  "We will be tested in many ways during non-conference play and will be prepared to compete in the WCC which is one of the toughest conferences in the country."

Of the 29 matches scheduled, 16 will be played in Firestone Fieldhouse including the 22^nd annual Pepperdine Asics Classic from September 13-14 and the Pepperdine Tournament from September 5-6.  All home matches will be available to watch online for free as WaveCasts will air on TheW.tv.

Pepperdine will play 12 matches against eight teams that made the NCAA Championships last season, including five teams that advanced to at least the second round.  Five WCC teams made the tournament last year including Pepperdine, with four reaching at least the second round.  BYU reached the semifinal before falling to eventual champion and top-ranked Stanford.  San Diego reached the third round before falling to Wisconsin who the Waves had played the previous round. LMU and Pepperdine were the other two teams in the league to reach the second round, while Saint Mary's bowed out in the first round.  The other squads that the Waves will face this season that made the tournament were Utah and Pitt (second round finishes) and Illinois State and Cal Poly (first round appearances).

Pepperdine will open the season in Denton, Texas with the North Texas Challenge on August 30-31, going up against tournament-host North Texas for the season-opener before facing Tulsa and Illinois State.  Then, the Waves will host the two home tournaments, welcoming Cal Baptist, Fairfield and Texas A&M for the first Pepperdine Tournament.

The Pepperdine Asics Classic has been in existence since 1998.  In the previous 21 tournaments, the Waves have amassed 48 wins, with only 14 losses including last season's undefeated 3-0 output.  This season, Pepperdine will welcome Pitt, Cal Poly and Utah to Malibu for the tournament.
 
After the Classic, the team will host UC Irvine at home on September 18 before making a short trip to UC Santa Barbara on September 20 to close out the non-conference season.
 
Directly after the final two non-conference matches, the Waves will open West Coast Conference action with San Francisco and Santa Clara at home on September 26 and 28 respectively.   Other home WCC matches will be Portland (Oct. 3), Gonzaga (Oct. 5), San Diego (Oct. 24), BYU (Oct. 26), LMU (Nov. 8), Saint Mary's (Nov. 14) and Pacific (Nov. 16).
 
Follow @WavesVolleyball on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates.  Go to www.PepperdineWaves.com for all current schedules, recaps and more.