MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, returns home this week to host Saint Mary's and Pacific in Firestone Fieldhouse.  It will be the first of two final homestands this month, as the Waves start to look at closing out the regular season.
 
MATCH #21 — Thursday (November 4) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. PT. | Watch: WCC Network.
 
MATCH #22 — Saturday (November 6) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Pacific at 12 p.m. PT. | Watch: WCC Network.
 
LIVE COVERAGE — Live stats will be available for all road and home matches and each match 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.
 
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 — In last week's 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 is also three aces away from tying and four 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 marked a tied career-high 27 kills in the Waves match against #9 Washington this season and in doing so, she surpassed the 1,000 career-kill mark.  She became the 21st Wave to have accomplished the feat and now with 1,211 kills, she ranks 11th in the Pepperdine women's volleyball career record books. 
 
As for the record books, Ahrens has racked up quite a few mentions throughout.  So far, she ranks atop the career Pepperdine records with 0.43 aces/set, and 7th with 4.32 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 46 aces on a 0.59 aces/set ratio and is on track to impacting the single-season record books once again.
 
Isabel Zelaya ranks 6th with 10.82 career assists/set and 9th with 2,622 total assists.  To cap off 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.  Shields has amassed 998 total digs thus far and is rapidly approaching the 1,000-career dig mark.
 
SQUAD GOALS — Pepperdine has gone 16-4 overall and 8-3 in the West Coast Conference this season, including a 4-3 output at home and impressive 8-1 and 4-0 records when playing away or on neutral courts.  As a team, the Waves have marked 13.72 kills per set on a .248 success rate, while allowing opponents only 11.53 kills per set on a .222 output.  Pepperdine also averages 12.67 assists, 1.79 aces, 12.90 digs and 1.96 blocks per set, while giving up 10.55 assists, 1.19 aces, 11.91 digs and 2.28 blocks per set to opponents.
 
Rachel Ahrens leads the Waves with 4.54 kills, 0.59 aces and 5.38 points per set, while also adding 1.96 digs and 0.49 blocks per set.  Grace Chillingworth and Meg Brown are next on the attack front for the Waves with 3.17 and 2.32 kills/set respectively.  Brown also has posted 0.29 aces and 0.91 blocks per set to help the cause.  Rosie Ballo leads the net with 0.96 blocks/set after having posted 69 total blocks with six block solos. 
 
Isabel Zelaya leads in playmaking duties with 10.82 assists/set after having marked 844 total assists this season.  She also puts in 1.60 digs, 0.59 blocks, 0.14 aces and 0.45 kills per set for the Waves.  Madison Shields leads the back row with 3.88 digs/set and 303 total digs this season.  She also added 0.19 aces and 0.88 assists/set.  Trinity Stanger and Kayla Joyce are next up for the defensive efforts with 1.88 and 1.70 digs/set respectively.  Stanger has put in 147 total digs and 0.23 aces/set, while Joyce has marked 131 digs and 0.27 aces/set. 
 
LAST WEEK — Last week, the Waves held things down at PCH Cup rival LMU's house, amassing a straight-set victory over the Lions.  The Waves put in 41 kills on a .158 clip and 2.0 blocks, but dominated with eight aces and 50 digs, while the Lions were good for 43 kills on a .229 output with 12.0 blocks, one ace and 47 digs. 
 
Rachel Ahrens led with 17 kills and four aces.  Her four aces also earned her the honor of being the Pepperdine women's volleyball team's newest career ace leader with 148 aces in her career.  Madison Shields led the back row with 17 digs, while Isabel Zelaya was also good for 12 digs, two aces, two kills and two blocks along with her team-best 32 assists.  Trinity Stanger added nine digs and two aces, while Grace Chillingworth and Meg Brown each tabbed seven kills throughout the match.
 
THE COMPETITION — Pepperdine split the first two contests against Saint Mary's and Pacific earlier this season, sweeping past SMC, but falling in five sets for the first WCC loss of the season to the Tigers.  Both the Gaels and Tigers are currently tied for fourth in the standings this week with 7-5 records in the league.  SMC has gone 13-8 this season overall and have currently won their last five matches, including sweeps against Pacific, San Francisco and Gonzaga.  The last match the Gaels lost was early October, to the Waves.  All-time, Pepperdine holds a 53-16 record against Saint Mary's, dating back to 1987 when the Waves won on the road in straight sets.  The Waves then went on to go 33-1 against the Gaels from 1987 to 2003. 
 
Pacific has gone 10-13 overall this season so far, most recently going 3-1 in the past two weeks with a four-set loss to Santa Clara and sweeps over San Francisco, Gonzaga and Portland.  Pepperdine has gone 21-16 against Pacific since 1977 when the Waves won 2-0 at a neutral site.  The Tigers hold the longest winning streak against with 10-straight wins from 1979 to 1994.  Prior to this season, the Waves had won four-straight, though Pacific took the five-set victory in early October. 
 
WEEKLY HONORS — This season, the Waves have tabbed four West Coast Conference weekly honors.  First, Rachel Ahrens and Meg Brown picked up the offensive and defensive honors respectively and most recently Madison Shields garnered a pair of defensive nods.  Her most recent one came as the Waves swept past LMU on the road and she amassed 17 digs, five assists and 24 service receptions without a single error.  Ahrens leads the Waves after having picked up six weekly accolades throughout her career, while Shields has earned five and Brown two throughout each of their careers as well.