MALIBU, Calif. — The #24 Pepperdine women's volleyball team took on #22 San Diego in front of a raucous crowd inside Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night. The teams split the first four sets 21-25, 25-19, 21-25, 27-25, before the Toreros ultimately claimed a five-set win with a 15-13 decision in the final frame.
 
Isabel Zelaya marked a career-high, dishing out 66 assists en route to four players with double-figure kills and a 75-kill team effort. Grace Chillingworth earned a career-best 22 kills on the night, hitting at a .327 clip, and Rachel Ahrens marked her ninth career double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs.
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 22 kills, .327 hitting %
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 66 assists, 9 digs
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 15 kills, 11 digs, 3 aces
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 14 kills, .321 hitting %, 6 digs
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 23 digs, 4 assists, 1 ace
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 13 kills, .360 hitting %
Rosie Ballo (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills HS): 9 kills, .389 hitting %
Trinity Stanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint HS): 11 digs, 3 aces
Kayla Joyce (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley HS/FRC/CSU Chico): 7 digs, 2 aces
 
WAVES VS. TOREROS
The stats for tonight showed just how close this match was, as both teams hit similarly at .245 and .226 for San Diego and Pepperdine respectively. USD, 28th in the country in blocks, amassed 16.0 tonight as a team while Pepperdine only had 5.0. Apart from blocks, the Waves led 75 to 55 in kills, 9 to 7 in aces, and 72 to 57 in digs.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set     K        E        TA    Pct
1        14      8        35      .171
2        17      3        38      .368
3        16      9        49      .143
4        18      10      44      .182
5        10      2        24      .333
TTL    75      32      190    .226
 
SAN DIEGO ATTACK BY SET
Set     K        E        TA    Pct
1        12      4        28      .286
2        12      3        35      .257
3        11      3        36      .222
4        10      6        36      .111
5        10      2        16      .500
TTL    55      18      151    .245
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Isabel Zelaya, Rachel Ahrens and Rosie Ballo started off the match with three straight kills to set the tone for the first set. Pepperdine held a five point lead before the Toreros clawed back with the help of aces, blocks, and a Pepperdine service error. San Diego would tie the match at 9's and the rest of the set would be nip and tuck as well. The Toreros would take an 18-17 lead before a Meg Brown kill tied the match up once again. The Waves called a timeout down 21-19 but would not get any closer as San Diego took four of the last six points to claim a 25-21 set one win.
 
San Diego would continue the momentum from the first set, racing out to a 5-2 lead in the second. A Trinity Stanger ace cut the deficit to 9-7 and another ace from Kayla Joyce gave Pepperdine a 4-0 run and a 13-10 lead, its largest since 3-0 in the first set. San Diego called its second timeout after Pepperdine gained a 19-15 lead on the strength of Ahrens' first ace of the match. A brief run by the opposition forced a Wave timeout while leading 23-19, but two straight kills put the set away and tied the match up at one.
 
USD rolled out to a 5-1 lead in the third set and would be the first to 10 as well. A Stanger ace capped a 5-0 Pepperdine run and forced a USD timeout. Pepperdine's run would end at seven but not before the Waves took a 13-11 lead. After an attack error by Brown, USD gained a 16-14 advantage. The lead swelled to 19-15 before an Ahrens kill stopped the momentum. The Waves rattled off four straight to cut the deficit to 24-21 before a USD kill ended the set.
 
A service error gave the first point of the fourth set to San Diego but Emma Ammerman quickly answered with a kill to tie it up. The early stages of the set was back and forth as the set saw six ties and three lead changes before someone reached seven. A block by Ammerman and Ballo gave the Waves an 11-8 lead, it's largest since set two. San Diego would creep closer, making it a 13-12 game before a bad set gave Pepperdine a two-point cushion once again. After a Pepperdine timeout, San Diego would grab an 18-15 lead before a Ballo kill. 
 
The Toreros would keep the pressure on the rest of the set, gaining a 21-17 advantage after an unsuccessful challenge on a touch by Pepperdine. A Brown kill brought the Waves within 23-19, and a Chillingworth kill tied the set at 23 after a 5-0 Waves run. With the score 24-24, the teams split points to keep the match going. Pepperdine was able to complete the 27-25 set comeback after an ace by Ballo.
 
In the fifth set, the Waves jumped out to a 3-1 lead after a kill by Chillingworth. A kill from Zelaya kept the two-point cushion for Pepperdine at 5-3. After a USD ace, the fifth was tied at six-apiece. San Diego grabbed an 8-7 lead, prompting a Pepperdine timeout. Pepperdine cut the San Diego lead to 10-9 after Ahrens' 15th kill of the match, but a service error thwarted the rally. The rest of the set was back and forth, similar to the whole night, and an Ammerman kill tied things up at 13-13. USD would rally for the next two points, escaping Malibu with a win.
 
FOLLOW
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.