Photo by: Sarah Otteman
Chillingworth Earns WCC Freshman of the Year; Five Garner WCC Acclaim
11/29/2021 3:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. — Five from the Pepperdine women's volleyball team garnered All-West Coast Conference postseason accolades, as announced the league office on Monday afternoon. Highlighting the honors, freshman Grace Chillingworth earned WCC Freshman of the Year acclaim.Â
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Chillingworth also earned a spot on the All-WCC honorable mention and All-Freshman Teams. In addition to the top honor and Chillingworth's awards, four others tabbed All-WCC recognition with Rachel Ahrens and Isabel Zelaya earning first team nods and Meg Brown and Madison Shields picking up second team honors.Â
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Grace Chillingworth – WCC Freshman of the Year, All-WCC Honorable Mention, All-Freshman Team
Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif.) is the 14th Wave to capture the top honor of its kind and the second-consecutive as Brown earned the nod last season. Chillingworth was second on the team this season with 3.03 kills/set, adding 309 smashes on a .253 hitting percentage during her true freshman campaign. She also tabbed 0.55 digs and 0.31 blocks per set for her squad.
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Rachel Ahrens – All-WCC First Team
Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) had another impressive season on the court, breaking multiple Pepperdine women's volleyball records and ranking top-15 nationally in at least seven categories throughout the season. This is the second-straight first team nod for her, while she also received a second team nod in 2019. In 2020, she garnered AVCA All-American honorable mention honors, along with AVCA Pacific South All-Region first team acclaim. This season, Ahrens has tabbed three WCC offensive weekly honors, along with Pepperdine's first-ever AVCA National Player of the Week accolade.Â
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Ahrens tabbed 484 total kills on a .274 success rate throughout the season, averaging 4.79 kills for the Waves. She became the 21st Wave to pick up her 1,000th career kill earlier this season on September 10 and has since totaled 1,358 career kills. She also amassed 50 aces, breaking her own Pepperdine women's volleyball record for most aces in a single season during the rally scoring era. She currently ranks 12th nationally with 0.50 aces/set and leads the WCC in seven categories. Ahrens also amassed 1.90 digs and 0.50 blocks per set for the squad this season as well.Â
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Isabel Zelaya – All-WCC First Team
Zelaya (Tomball, Texas) garnered her second-consecutive first team nod this season. She also tabbed AVCA Pacific South All-Region first team honors in 2020. She leads the conference with 10.76 assists/set and 1,098 total assists, ranking 26th and 41st nationally in those same categories. Her playmaking efforts have led the Waves to a .252 team collective hitting percentage this season as well, which ranks 2nd in the league and 42nd nationally. Zelaya has also amassed 1.75 digs, 0.56 blocks, 0.46 kills and 0.14 aces per set this season. She currently ranks 6th in the Pepperdine career record books in assists/set and 8th in total assists.
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Madison Shields – All-WCC Second Team
Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) picked up her second-straight second team nod this season.  Throughout her career, she has also received recognition as WCC Libero of the Year in 2020 and has marked WCC Defensive Player of the Week honors seven times, including four this season. Shields tabbed her 1,000 career dig this season on November 4 and has since totaled 1,118 total digs in her four-year career. This season, Shields has posted 423 digs thus far, averaging 4.15 digs/set, ranking 9th in both those categories in the Pepperdine women's volleyball rally scoring era record books. Shields has also picked up 0.91 assists and 0.19 aces per set for her squad this season.
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Meg Brown – All-WCC Second Team
Brown (Santa Ana, Calif.) picked up her third WCC postseason honor this season with the second team nod. In 2020, she garnered WCC Freshman of the Year acclaim as well as a first team honor. This season, she as picked up 2.29 kills/set on a .300 success rate, while adding 0.87 blocks, 0.62 digs and 0.27 aces per set. Â
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Follow the Waves all season on social media @WavesVolleyball on Facebook and Twitter and @peppvolley on Instagram.
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Chillingworth also earned a spot on the All-WCC honorable mention and All-Freshman Teams. In addition to the top honor and Chillingworth's awards, four others tabbed All-WCC recognition with Rachel Ahrens and Isabel Zelaya earning first team nods and Meg Brown and Madison Shields picking up second team honors.Â
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Grace Chillingworth – WCC Freshman of the Year, All-WCC Honorable Mention, All-Freshman Team
Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif.) is the 14th Wave to capture the top honor of its kind and the second-consecutive as Brown earned the nod last season. Chillingworth was second on the team this season with 3.03 kills/set, adding 309 smashes on a .253 hitting percentage during her true freshman campaign. She also tabbed 0.55 digs and 0.31 blocks per set for her squad.
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Rachel Ahrens – All-WCC First Team
Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) had another impressive season on the court, breaking multiple Pepperdine women's volleyball records and ranking top-15 nationally in at least seven categories throughout the season. This is the second-straight first team nod for her, while she also received a second team nod in 2019. In 2020, she garnered AVCA All-American honorable mention honors, along with AVCA Pacific South All-Region first team acclaim. This season, Ahrens has tabbed three WCC offensive weekly honors, along with Pepperdine's first-ever AVCA National Player of the Week accolade.Â
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Ahrens tabbed 484 total kills on a .274 success rate throughout the season, averaging 4.79 kills for the Waves. She became the 21st Wave to pick up her 1,000th career kill earlier this season on September 10 and has since totaled 1,358 career kills. She also amassed 50 aces, breaking her own Pepperdine women's volleyball record for most aces in a single season during the rally scoring era. She currently ranks 12th nationally with 0.50 aces/set and leads the WCC in seven categories. Ahrens also amassed 1.90 digs and 0.50 blocks per set for the squad this season as well.Â
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Isabel Zelaya – All-WCC First Team
Zelaya (Tomball, Texas) garnered her second-consecutive first team nod this season. She also tabbed AVCA Pacific South All-Region first team honors in 2020. She leads the conference with 10.76 assists/set and 1,098 total assists, ranking 26th and 41st nationally in those same categories. Her playmaking efforts have led the Waves to a .252 team collective hitting percentage this season as well, which ranks 2nd in the league and 42nd nationally. Zelaya has also amassed 1.75 digs, 0.56 blocks, 0.46 kills and 0.14 aces per set this season. She currently ranks 6th in the Pepperdine career record books in assists/set and 8th in total assists.
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Madison Shields – All-WCC Second Team
Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) picked up her second-straight second team nod this season.  Throughout her career, she has also received recognition as WCC Libero of the Year in 2020 and has marked WCC Defensive Player of the Week honors seven times, including four this season. Shields tabbed her 1,000 career dig this season on November 4 and has since totaled 1,118 total digs in her four-year career. This season, Shields has posted 423 digs thus far, averaging 4.15 digs/set, ranking 9th in both those categories in the Pepperdine women's volleyball rally scoring era record books. Shields has also picked up 0.91 assists and 0.19 aces per set for her squad this season.
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Meg Brown – All-WCC Second Team
Brown (Santa Ana, Calif.) picked up her third WCC postseason honor this season with the second team nod. In 2020, she garnered WCC Freshman of the Year acclaim as well as a first team honor. This season, she as picked up 2.29 kills/set on a .300 success rate, while adding 0.87 blocks, 0.62 digs and 0.27 aces per set. Â
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Follow the Waves all season on social media @WavesVolleyball on Facebook and Twitter and @peppvolley on Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
OH/OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
S/OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
