MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team has two matches on the docket this week, first hosting UC Irvine in Firestone Fieldhouse on Wednesday, before heading out on the road for a short trip to UC Santa Barbara on Friday.
 
MATCH #10 — Wednesday (September 18) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. UC Irvine at 7 p.m. | WCC Network
 
MATCH #11 — Friday (September 20) at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. UC Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. | Big West TV
 
LIVE — Live stream and live stats will be available for both matches, with all home Pepperdine matches going live on the WCC Network.  Additionally, the match at UC Santa Barbara will be streamed on Big West TV.  Links 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.
 
SAME OLE SPLASH ZONE, DIFFERENT LOCATIONS — For the second year, Pepperdine is continuing with the student fan-experience for most of the home volleyball matches with the Splash Zone.  The zone will now be located in the student section directly behind (and to the left when facing) DJ Romar.   All Pepperdine students are able to support the Waves' teams in a rowdy experience and anyone in the Splash Zone will also be first-eligible for that events giveaway.  The first Splash Zone match will be Friday against Cal Poly.
 
SQUAD GOALS — The Waves have posted a 3-6 output overall, with a 2-4 record at home, after several weeks of highly competitive competition. Shannon Scully leads the team with 3.32 kills/set after marking 126 kills on a .252 output.  She has also posted 2.89 digs/set and 0.42 blocks/set for the Waves.  Rachel Ahrens, Kayleigh Hames and Hannah Frohling are also heavy hitters for the Waves, posting 3.03, 2.65 and 2.36 kills/set respectively.  Ahrens leads the team with 0.41 aces/set as well, an adds 0.81 blocks/set and 0.89 digs/set.  Hames has marked 2.39 digs/set, while Frohling has put up a team-high 0.36 aces/set. 
 
Alli O'Harra and Tarah Wylie lead the way 0.97 and 0.79 blocks/set respectively.  O'Harra leads the squad with 37 total blocks, including three solo rejections, while Wylie is close behind with 30 total blocks and two solo jobs.  O'Harra also adds 168 kills/set on a .282 success rate, while Wylie produces 2.26 kills/set on a .328 clip, and adds 0.29 service aces/set. 
 
Isabel Zelaya and Tayah Mahi have led in the playmaking duties for the Waves, marking 8.73 and 8.27 assists/set respectively.  Zelaya has marked 227 assists and adds 1.92 digs/set and 0.35 blocks/set; Mahi has tallied 182 total assists, with 2.00 digs/set and 0.14 aces/set.  Hana Lishman is solid in the back row for the Waves as primary libero, while Madison Shields also provides defensive support.  Lishman leads Pepperdine with 3.55 digs/set and has amassed 135 total digs this season, while adding eight service aces and 27 total assists.  Shields has produced 1.43 digs/set with 50 total digs as well.
 
LAST WEEK, TODAY — Last week, the Waves played some tremendously athletic volleyball, holding the team's own with two top-16 nationally ranked teams and even taking #6 Pitt to an exciting fifth-set matchup.  Pepperdine opened the 22nd-annual Asics Classic against #16 Utah, winning the first set 25-20 before the opposition took home the next three sets to secure the win.  Shannon Scully, Rachel Ahrens and Tarah Wylie all hit for double-figures with 13, 12 and 10-smashes respectively.  Scully also added nine digs and a career-best five blocks, while Ahrens posted a team-high .320 success rate and Wylie amassed two blocks.  Alli O'Harra was also solid at the net with five blocks, and she helped the cause with seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage.  Isabel Zelaya had a tea-high 28 assists and two aces as well throughout the match, while Hana Lishman posted nine digs.
 
Then the Waves took on Cal Poly, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, splitting sets to a force a fifth, but eventually falling in the fifth.  Scully and Zelaya marked double-doubles, with Scully posting 16 kills and 16 digs in the effort and Zelaya adding 48 assists and 10 digs with four blocks in the effort. Ahrens, Wylie and O'Harra also added double-figure kills with 13, 12 and 12 digs respectfully.  O'Harra also led with five blocks, while Lishman led with two aces alongside Ahrens and added nine digs.
 
In the final matchup against #6 Pitt, the Waves came to play, coming back from a first set loss to win the second and third sets.  The opposition was able to take the fourth, however and force a fifth.  After a 14-14 tied score in the fifth, the Panthers were able to close the game with a win.  Scully led with an impressive 23 kills and 19 digs, while Lishman posted 20 digs and two aces.  Hannah Frohling posted 19 kills and 11 digs for her first double-double of the season, while adding two aces as well.  Wylie was good for 10 kills and O'Harra led with six blocks.  Madison Shields and Zelaya added 11 digs, while Zelaya marked another double-double with a career-high 55 assists.
 
THE COMPETITION — Pepperdine leads both teams with winning records all-time.  Against UC Irvine, the Waves have gone 13-3 since 1976, when Pepperdine took the first 2-0 win on a neutral court.  UCI won the first matchup against the Waves in 1982 to make it a 4-1 overall record, before the Waves won the next nine matches.  The two teams have faced just twice since 2014, losing both matches on the road, one in five sets and one in four.  This season, the Anteaters have gone 2-7 overall, recently taking down Air Force in five sets and dropping matches to Virginia Tech and Loyola Chicago.
 
Pepperdine has posted a 31-29 overall record against UC Santa Barbara since the two teams first faced in 1976 and the Waves won 3-0 on the road.  Pepperdine then went on a seven-match winning streak before the Gauchos won their first match against in the 1980 season.  After that, there were a few exchanges of winning and losing streaks on both sides.  In the most recent five matches from 2010-15, the Waves have won all five, posting four with four-set wins and one with a straight-set victory.  This season, the Gauchos have started well, posting an 8-1 overall record, dropping only to Colorado, while most recently defeating WCC opponent San Diego, as well as Harvard and La Salle.
 
POSITION BREAKDOWNS:
CANNONS — Hannah Frohling, Shannon Scully, Rachel Ahrens, Taylor Akason, Savana Greene and Kayliegh Hames.
MALIBU ROOFING COMPANY — Tarah Wylie, Alli O'Harra and Rosie Ballo
PLAYMAKERS — Isabel Zelaya, Tayah Mahi and Lily Dyer.
CAN YOU DIG IT? — Hana Lishman, Madison Shields and Aubrey Roberts.
 
MORE THAN A PEEK INTO THE 2018 SEASON — This week, the Waves took an in-depth look at the trials and tribulations faced during the end of the 2018 season in a three-part docuseries.  Also included in the feature were team philosophies and an inside look at the momentum towards the team's future this season.  All three chapters, as well as the full video, can be found on any of Pepperdine women's volleyball social channels (@WavesVolleyball on Facebook and Twitter) or on the Pepperdine Athletics YouTube channel.
 
WCC PRESEASON POLL & HONORS — The Waves had four honored with an All-WCC Preseason Team selection, including Hannah Frohling, Tarah Wylie, Shannon Scully and Rachel Ahrens.  Pepperdine was picked to finish 3rd in the West Coast Conference this season, close behind BYU and San Diego, and out in front of PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary's, Pacific, Portland, Gonzaga, Santa Clara and San Francisco.
 
2018 RECAP — Last season, the Waves went 22-9 overall and 14-4 in the West Coast Conference, posting a 12-1 output at home, a 6-7 record on the road and a 4-1 record on neutral courts.  The Waves made the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in 44 seasons and the first time since the 2012 campaign, finishing in the second round of the tournament after posting a solid victory over Northern Iowa in the opening round in Wisconsin. The Waves won the final five matches of the regular season, including a 3-2 defeat of Hawai'i and WCC-victories over Gonzaga, Portland, PCH Cup rival LMU and San Diego to finish 2nd in the conference.
 
LISHMAN AND TEAM USA — Senior Hana Lishman had quite the summer, first being invited to the Team USA National Team tryout in Colorado Springs, and then by being selected to the 28-player U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team, Anaheim roster in April.  She trained with the squad in from June 23-29.
 
WAVES ON ICE? — Sophomore defensive specialist Madison 'Mad Dog' Shields didn't just grow up playing volleyball, she started her athletic career playing ice hockey.  Her stepsiblings played the sport and after taking basic lessons, she started to love it so much she joined a team.  That team happened to be an all-guys team, but checking was not yet allowed.  Shields stated, "I was on the team for two years and it was mentally challenging. It made me a more disciplined athlete and it made me want to work harder.  It helped me realize how to be a next-level athlete.
 
SCOTT WONG — Pepperdine alum Scott Wong was named head coach in December 2014, becoming the fifth head coach in program history.  In first four seasons at the helm of the Waves, he amassed a 68-55 overall record for Pepperdine.  He helped the program to its first NCAA appearance since 2012 in the 2018 campaign after leading the Waves to a 22-9 overall season and a NCAA second round finish.   He was an assistant with the Waves' men's program from 2005-09 (and was part of the 2005 NCAA championship-winning team) before moving back to his home state of Hawaii and serving as associate coach with the Rainbows' women's squad for five seasons.  He was also Hawaii's sand volleyball head coach.  Wong was a three-time All-American with the Waves between 1998-01.
 
NEW FACES ON THE SIDELINES — Head Coach Scott Wong has recruited some new help on the sidelines for the 2018 season, bringing in Tara Hittle, Lindsey Berg and Blossom Sato to help coach the squad.  Hittle is a former NCAA Division I multi-sport student-athlete and professional volleyball player.  She graduated from University of Hawai'i after playing both basketball and volleyball and helping the Rainbow Wahine to a pair of NCAA Elite 8 appearances in 2006 and 2007 as well as Sweet 16 berths in 2004 and 2005.  Berg is a three-time Olympian and two-time silver medalist.  She helped lead Team USA to a pair of silver medal finishes in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, while also playing in Italy on the professional circuit for seven season.  Sato is a recent graduate of Pepperdine and spent two years leading the Waves as the primary setter, earning All-WCC first team honors in 2018.  She made an immediate impact after transferring from Mississippi State and posted 1,915 total assists, averaging 10.35 assists/set for the Waves.  Director of Operations Haley Thompson also returned to the sidelines to help the Waves this season.
 
INDOOR VOLLEYBALL HISTORY — The Pepperdine women's volleyball program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power.  The Waves have advanced to postseason play 28 times in 44 seasons, including 14 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 21 seasons.  Pepperdine's best finishes in recent years came when the team made the regional final of the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and again in 2011.  Ten players have earned AVCA or Volleyball Magazine All-American honors a combined 19 times, while six players have been dubbed the WCC Player of the Year nine total times.  Nina Matthies, who stepped down after the 2013 season, was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in December, 2015.
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I Championships in five different men's sports — one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat — and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful.  Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks No. 50 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.