#25 Waves Set to Host Final Three Matches of the Regular Season

MALIBU, Calif. — The #25 Pepperdine women's volleyball team has only three more matches on the docket for the regular season, all which will be played at home in Firestone Fieldhouse. The NCAA Selection Show is set to take place on Sunday, November 28.

MATCH #25 — Thursday (November 18) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. San Francisco at 7 p.m. PT. | Watch: WCC Network

MATCH #26 — Saturday (November 20) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara at 12 p.m. PT. | Watch: WCC Network | SENIOR DAY

MATCH #27 — Tuesday (November 23) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Gonzaga at 3 p.m. PT. | Watch: WCC Network

LIVE COVERAGE — Live stats will be available for all road and home matches. The match at BYU will air on BYUTV and the match at USD will air on the WCC Network. 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.

SENIOR DAY SATURDAY — Seniors Rachel Ahrens Rosie Ballo, Lily Dyer, Savana Greene, Kayla Joyce and Madison Shields will be honored prior to the match against Santa Clara on Saturday.

THURSDAY FOOD TRUCK & WORSHIP — In support of Pepperdine women's volleyball, Sodexo and Pepperdine Dining Services will locate the food truck, Angelenos' Wood Fired Pizza, to Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night from 7-9 p.m.

Prior to the match, there will be the inaugural Pepperdine Worship Summit beginning at 5 p.m. on Alumni Field. Due to the event, please consider arriving to the game early to avoid parking and campus entrance conflicts.

TICKETS & SPECTATOR GUIDELINES — Tickets to all Pepperdine home women's volleyball matches in 2021 will be available via e-ticket ONLY. Patrons must purchase tickets to any event prior to arriving on campus. Individuals without tickets to an event will not be allowed on campus. Pepperdine faculty, staff and students must show Pepperdine ID card for entry — no ticket purchase is required.

To purchase e-tickets and read the spectator guidelines, visit: www.PepperdineWaves.com/Tickets. Due to campus construction, nearby parking is limited and guests are advised to arrive early.

Each match costs $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (65+) and $5 for children and non-Pepperdine students.

MILESTONES & RECORD WATCH — This season, in the second match against PCH Cup rival LMU, Rachel Ahrens amassed four aces, which put her career total at 148 to become the Pepperdine women's volleyball program's all-time career ace leader. It was an accomplishment that has not changed in the record books since Nicole Sanderson achieved the top spot with 147 aces from 1994 to 1997. Ahrens has since amassed 151 aces. She is also currently tied and one away from overtaking her own single-season rally scoring era ace record which stands at 49 aces - something she accomplished in the 2019 season.

Additionally, Ahrens surpassed the 1,000 career-kill mark against Washington earlier this season. She became the 21st Wave to have accomplished the feat and now with 1,313 kills, she ranks 7th in the Pepperdine women's volleyball career record books. Against Saint Mary's at home this season, she also tabbed a career-best 30 kills, an attacking output that has only been accomplished twice by a Pepperdine women's volleyball player, and only now three times in program history. The last two times Waves have hit for more than 30 kills were Katie Wilkins with 32 kills at Pacific in a four-set match in 2003 and Julie Rubenstein with 31 kills in five sets at Oregon State in 2008.

As for the record books, Ahrens has racked up quite a few mentions throughout. So far, she ranks atop the career Pepperdine records with 0.42 aces/set, and 7th with 4.40 points/set. Her points/set output makes her the first Wave to crack the points/set top-10 records since Julie Rubenstein did so from 2005-08. Prior to the 2021 season, Ahrens also ranked 2nd in the single-season rally scoring single-season records with 0.44 aces/set, 4th with 4.44 kills/set and 5th with 5.13 points/set. This season, she has already amassed 49 aces on a 0.53 aces/set ratio and is on track to impacting the single-season record books once again.

Also in the single-season rally scoring records, Madison Shields ranked tied-7th in 2020 with 4.22 digs/set last season. She also tied for 3rd in the single-match records with 34 digs - both in five sets and overall. In Thursday's four-set win over Saint Mary's, Shields tabbed a season-high 27 digs, putting her well over her 1,000th career dig. She's the 13th Wave to have accomplished the feat and now has amassed 1,073 digs in her career thus far.

Isabel Zelaya ranks 6th with 10.52 career assists/set and 8th with 2,778 total assists.

WEEKLY HONORS & NATIONAL ACCLAIM — Another historic moment came to pass for the Waves and Rachel Ahrens this season as she became the first-ever Pepperdine women's volleyball player to garner AVCA National weekly honors on Tuesday, November 9. The Waves have earned one other national weekly honor in program history with the NCAA Player of the Week award as Jazmine Orozco accomplished the feat in 2012.

This season, the Waves have also tabbed six West Coast Conference weekly honors. First, Rachel Ahrens and Meg Brown picked up the offensive and defensive honors respectively, then Madison Shields garnered a pair of defensive nods. Most recently, Shields tabbed defensive honors for the second-straight week, while Ahrens picked up her second offensive recognition of the season. Ahrens leads the Waves after having picked up seven weekly accolades throughout her career, while Shields has earned six and Brown two throughout each of their careers as well.

SQUAD GOALS — Pepperdine has gone 19-5 overall this season and 11-4 in the West Coast Conference. The Waves are currently tied for second in the league, alongside #23 San Diego and behind #4 BYU. The squad averages 13.59 kills, 12.58 assists, 1.68 aces, 13.09 digs and 1.90 blocks per set, while giving up 11.46 kills, 10.54 assists, 1.19 aces, 12.06 digs and 2.27 blocks per set to opponents. Pepperdine has marked 1,264 kills on a .243 output, while allowing 1,066 kills on a .222 clip to opposing attackers.

Rachel Ahrens and Grace Chillingworth lead the Waves' attack efforts, posting 4.72 and 3.11 kills/set respectively. Ahrens does so along with 0.53 aces and 1.88 digs per set. Isabel Zelaya serves as the primary playmaker for Pepperdine, posting 1,000 assists this season for 10.75 assist/set. She also adds 1.69 digs and 0.56 blocks per set for her squad. Rosie Ballo and Meg Brown are the Waves holding down the net with 0.95 and 0.87 blocks/set respectively. Ballo has amassed 82 blocks and Brown has posted 72 blocks this season so far. Madison Shields, Trinity Stanger and Kayla Joyce lead the back row with 4.06, 1.86 and 1.77 digs/set respectively. Shields leads with 378 total digs and adds 0.88 assists/set, while Joyce is good for 0.26 aces/set as well.

LAST WEEK — The Waves split the week on the road last week, falling at then-ranked #5 BYU before posting a reverse-sweep upset over then-ranked #19 San Diego. Against the Cougars, Pepperdine marked 25 kills on a .008 output, with two aces, 40 digs and 4.0 blocks, while BYU put in 42 kills on a .354 output, with six aces, 54 digs and 6.0 blocks. Ahrens led the floor with 13 kills, while Rosie Ballo led the Waves with four blocks and Madison Shields led with 11 digs.

In the stunning win at USD, the Waves trailed with 25-19 and 25-17 losses in the first set, but rallied with 25-21 and 25-20 sets to force a fifth. After going virtually point-for-point en route to a 15-15 tied score, the Waves capitalized on a pair of errors from across the net to win the set 17-15 and the match 3-2. The squad led the match with 64 kills, compared to the Toreros 50, though the opposition led .230 to .205 in hitting percentage. USD also added 17.0 blocks to Pepperdine's 6.0, but the Waves led six to five in aces and 64 to 57 in digs for the win.

Ahrens led the match with 27 kills on a .267 clip, while adding her 49th ace of the season which tied her previous record for most aces in a single season during the rally scoring era at Pepperdine. Grace Chillingworth was next on the attack front with 19 kills and Isabel Zelaya impressed with an all-around effort, amassing her 3rd double-double of the season with 46 assists, a tied career-high 17 digs, a career-best five kills and an ace. Madison Shields and Kayla Joyce each marked double-figure digs with 19 and 10 digs respectively. Emma Ammerman also added five blocks to the effort.

THE COMPETITION — San Francisco has gone 0-22 overall and 0-14 in the WCC this season, most recently falling in four sets to each Santa Clara and Gonzaga. All-time, the Waves hold a 66-7 record against the Dons, dating back to 1985 when the Waves won 3-1. Last season, Pepperdine won both matches against USF and earlier this season the squad swept past the Dons on the road.

Santa Clara has posted a 10-14 overall record and has gone 6-8 in the league this season so far. The squad most recently defeated San Francisco in four before sweeping past Gonzaga. All-time, Pepperdine has amassed a 47-33 record against Santa Clara, dating back to 1982 when the Waves defeated the Broncos 2-0. Last season, Pepperdine defeated SCU twice as well and earlier this season, the squad downed the Broncos in a five-setter on the road.

Gonzaga has marked an 8-19 overall record and a 4-12 record in the WCC this season, recently falling in three at Santa Clara before taking down San Francisco in four on the road. Pepperdine holds impressive winning all-time record against Gonzaga, having gone 61-8 all-time. The Waves first faced the Bulldogs in 1987, winning in three sets before taking the next 10-straight wins through the 1991 campaign. From 1997 to 2014, Pepperdine won 34-straight matches, including 25 by way of sweep. Since 2017, Pepperdine has won eight-consecutive matches, including four sweeps with the last having been in October of this year in Spokane.

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