MALIBU, Calif. — The #25 Pepperdine women's volleyball team closed out the 2021 regular season with a straight-set sweep of Gonzaga on Tuesday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse.  The Waves have won the last four-consecutive matches, including the final three sweeps at home. 
 
Pepperdine came out strong with a tight 25-23 set win, before closing things down with 25-22 and 25-21 final set scores over the Bulldogs. 
 
Rachel Ahrens led with 19 kills, her 26^th match of the 27 matches this season with double-figure kills.  She also tallied one ace in the second set, her 50^th of the season in 101 sets played, which broke her own previous Pepperdine women's volleyball program record for most aces in a single-season during the rally scoring era.  Ahrens held the previous record herself with 49 aces in 2019, which had surpassed Pepperdine great Katie Wilkins' record from 2003 by one ace. 
 
The all-time record, including sideout scoring, was marked in 1997 by Nicole Sanderson when she amassed 62 SA in 112 sets played.  Ahrens now ranks 2nd & 3rd in the all-time records for most aces in a single-season, including both the sideout & rally scoring eras.
 
BIG WAVES
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 19 kills, .368 hitting %, 8 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 13 kills, .462 hitting %, 2 blocks
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 38 assists, 9 digs, 2 blocks, 3 kills
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 15 digs, 4 assists
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 8 kills, .500 hitting %, 5 digs, 4 blocks
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 8 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace
Kayla Joyce (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley HS/FRC/CSU Chico): 8 digs
Trinity Stanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint HS): 5 digs
 
WAVES VS. BULLDOGS
Pepperdine marked an impressive .322 hitting percentage with 52 kills, while allowing Gonzaga only 39 kills on a .255 clip.  The Waves also led in 8.0 to 4.0 in blocks and 54 to 44 in digs, while the opposition had the edge five to two in aces.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          21        5          44        .364
2          15        4          33        .333
3          16        6          38        .263
TTL      52        15        115      .322
 
GONZAGA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        3          35        .343
2          14        4          33        .303
3          10        5          38        .132
TTL      10        5          38        .132


 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Each side traded points to open the match, but Pepperdine was quick to work ahead to a 7-3 lead with kills from Grace Chillingworth, Meg Brown and Isabel Zelaya.  Though the Zags would come within two early, the Waves were able to keep them at bay through a 14-10 advantage.  The opposition then came back with a 4-0 run to tie things up, but kills from Chillingworth and Rachel Ahrens gave Pepperdine the edge once again.  The Waves and Bulldogs traded points once again, but the home squad kept ahead by at least one throughout the rest of the set and a kill from Ahrens and block collaboration from Zelaya and Rosie Ballo shut it down 25-23.
 
It was more of a see-saw battle to open the second, with each side working to a 5-5 tie that would also see ties at 13's and 18's throughout.  After the 18-18 mark, a block from Ballo and Emma Ammerman and a kill from Ballo gave the Waves the edge and another kill from Ahrens made it 21-18.  The Zags came back to tie the score at 22-apiece, but a quick timeout from Pepperdine froze the opposition up.  An attack error from across the net, an Ahrens, Brown block and a final kill from Ammerman gave the Waves the second set 25-22 win.
 
With the advantage heading into the third, the Waves came out strong and after a tie at 4's, went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead with a pair kills from Ahrens and back-to-back blocks from Ahrens and Brown.  Pepperdine was able to stay ahead throughout the set, building on more runs courtesy of smashes from Ammerman and Ahrens and a Chillingworth ace.  After a 21-11 lead, the opposition started to close the gap with a 4-0 run themselves, but an Ahrens' kill stopped them up.  A Reagan Goeke, Zelaya block collaboration late in the action kept the Waves going and a final smash from Ammerman closed the set 25-21 and the match with a sweep. 
 
FOLLOW
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