Waves Return to Firestone to Host Pacific

MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, will return to Firestone Fieldhouse this week set to challenge West Coast Conference opponent Pacific on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Waves have gone 4-0 in this season, beating Saint Mary's in the team's first road competition two weeks ago before having an off-week due to issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and county guidelines at Santa Clara last week.

MATCH #5 — Tuesday (February 16) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Pacific at 7 p.m. PT

MATCH #6 — Wednesday (February 17) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Pacific at 7 p.m. PT

WAVECASTS — The matches can be watched online via WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com. Veteran play-by-play man El Epstein, a 2015 Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame inductee who is now in his 36th season, will be behind the microphone.

HOME ATTENDANCE — Per the current COVID-19 guidelines set by the state of California and Los Angeles County, fans will not be permitted to attend home games in Firestone Fieldhouse.

LIVE — Live stats will also be available for both matches and available on PepperdineWaves.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.

AVCA POLL: RECEIVING VOTES — This week, the Waves cracked the AVCA Coaches Poll and are currently receiving 10 votes. Other WCC schools in the coaches poll include #12 BYU and #20 San Diego.

WEEKLY ACCOLADES APLENTY — The last two weeks, the Waves have been earning conference recognition. Rachel Ahrens went back-to-back, earning her first and second career offensive player of the week honors. Additionally, in the second week, Madison Shields, completed a Pepperdine sweep by garnering her first career defensive player of the week nod.

In Ahrens' first weekly nod, she had helped the Waves to two wins over USF at home, amassing 4.80 points/set after amassing 4.00 kills/set, 1.00 blocks/set and 0.29 aces/set. She also played stellar on the back line with 3.29 digs/set throughout seven sets played in the week. Overall, she tallied 28 kills on 81 attempts, adding 23 digs, seven block assists and two aces for 33.5 points. She added a double-double in the second match and marked a career-best 16 digs as well.

For the second week, the Waves downed Saint Mary's in a pair of road matches. Ahrens marked 5.00 kills/set on a .400 clip, totaling only five errors on 75 swings and a new career-high kill effort throughout the process. She posted 0.29 aces/set, 1.43 digs/set, 0.43 blocks/set for 5.5 points/set throughout seven sets of action. She amassed 10 digs, two aces and three blocks for 38.5 points overall. In the second match against the Gaels, she was good for a career-high 21 kills on a .452 output.

Shields averaged 5.14 digs/set and 1.00 assists/set and marked 40 successful service receptions with only four errors in seven sets of action. On day two, she marked a career-best 23 digs, while adding six assists for the Waves. She added 16 serve reception attempts with only two errors as well.

LAST MATCHES — Though the Waves were off last week, the team had defeated Saint Mary's twice the week prior, first sweeping past the Gaels before downing them in four-sets on night two. In the first match, the Waves posted 25-15, 25-22 and 25-19 set scores for the victory, marking 46 kills on a .336 output, while adding four aces compared to the Gaels' 36 kills on a .165 clip with six aces. Each side posted 52 digs, while Pepperdine led the floor with 5.0 blocks to the Gaels 3.0. Rachel Ahrens and Shannon Scully led the floor with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Ahrens posted a .333 hitting percentage, while Scully added a .355 clip with two aces and 10 digs for a double-double. Madison Shields led the Waves with 13 digs and Isabel Zelaya posted a team-high 37 digs. Alli O'Harra was good for three blocks including two solos as well.

In the second matchup, Pepperdine took the victory in four sets, marking 25-15, 23-25, 25-15 and 25-12 set scores. The Waves put up 59 kills on a .376 clip with a solid nine-ace team performance, as opposed to the Gaels' 44 kills on a .190 success rate with six aces. Pepperdine also added 68 digs, 58 assists and 9.0 team blocks to SMC's 56 digs, 41 assists and 4.0 team blocks. Ahrens, Scully and Meg Brown led the team with 21, 16 and 11 kills on .452, .429 and .500 hitting percentages respectively. Ahrens' career-best kill output came alongside two aces, two blocks and six digs. Scully added another double-double with 11 digs, three blocks and an ace and Brown was good for three blocks and an ace as well. Shields put up a career-high 23 digs and Zelaya led the floor with 48 assists and produced 12 digs as well.

SQUAD GOALS — Pepperdine produces 14.64 kills/set on a .309 output on average, adding 13.43 assists/set, 1.50 aces/set, 17.93 digs/set and 2.43 blocks/set. The Waves have allowed opponents only 12.29 kills/set on a .167 clip, with 11.64 assists/et, 1.00 aces/set, 16.64 digs/set and 0.93 blocks/set. The Waves rank top-20 nationally in three categories, including 10th in hitting percentage, 12th in kills/set and 16th in assists/set as a team.

Rachel Ahrens leads the team with 4.50 kills/set this season, and adds a .327 clip with 0.29 aces/set, 0.71 blocks/set and 2.36 digs/set. She ranks 21st nationally inn both kills/set and with 5.14 points/set this season thus far. Shannon Scully is next in line on the attack for the Waves with 3.29 kills/set on a .276 success rate. She also adds a strong 0.36 aces/set, 3.07 digs/set and 0.57 blocks/set. Meg Brown and Emma Ammerman also add some big arms to the Waves' attack with 2.79 and 2.23 kills/set respectively. Brown does so with a .507 attacking percentage which ranks 5th nationally and .100 blocks/set. Alli O'Harra leads the squad with 1.21 blocks/set after having posted 17 blocks including two solo rejections. Kayla Joyce has a team-high 0.58 ace/set, while Isabel Zelaya has put up 11.64 assists/set, ranking 11th nationally. Madison Shields marks 5.14 digs/set for a team-high output this season as well.

THE COMPETITION — Pepperdine leads Pacific with a 19-15 all-time record against, including a 7-1 output against the Tigers when playing in Firestone Fieldhouse. The two teams first faced in 1977 when the Waves won twice 2-0 on neutral courts. Last season, Pepperdine defeated Pacific twice again, both with 3-1 final set scores in both a home and away match.

This season, Pacific has gone 1-3 against opponents, splitting with Gonzaga. The Tigers also dropped a pair of matches to San Francisco, a team the Waves defeated back-to-back on week one. The team produces 13.00 kills/set on a .123 output, with 11.44 assists/set, 1.00 aces/set, 19.33 digs/set and 1.67 blocks/set. The Tigers allow opponents 10.33 kills/set on a .161 clip, 9.33 assists/set, 0.67 aces/set, 17.17 digs/set and 3.00 blocks/set.

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