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Pepperdine University Athletics

Team
Sarah Otteman
2
Pacific PACWVB 1-5, 1-5
3
Winner Pepperdine PEP 6-0, 6-0
Pacific PACWVB
1-5, 1-5
2
Final
3
Pepperdine PEP
6-0, 6-0
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Pacific PACWVB 25 21 25 17 12 (2)
Pepperdine PEP 20 25 21 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | by Athletic Communications

Pepperdine Rallies to Overcome Pacific in Five Set Thriller

MALIBU, Calif. — Despite falling behind 2-1 with first and third set losses, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team rallied back to defeat West Coast Conference opponent Pacific in five sets in Firestone Fieldhouse after securing fourth and fifth set wins to remain undefeated at 6-0 this season.
 
The Waves, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, split the opening sets with the Tigers 20-25, 25-21.  Though Pacific (1-6) took the third set 25-21 to pull ahead, Pepperdine rallied in the fourth with a 25-17 set win to force a fifth.
 
The Waves came into the fifth using the energy from the previous set to fuel the attack force, putting up back-to-back kills from Shannon Scully and Rachel Ahrens for the quick advantage.  The Tigers tied things up at 3's and pulled ahead 10-8 with a strong attack presence of their own, but the Waves were not soon to roll over. 
 
A kill from Meg Brown and a pair of attack errors from across the net flipped the script and put the Waves ahead by one.  Another kill from Brown and two more Tigers' errors gave the Waves a comfortable 14-10 lead.  Pacific rallied for a few points to close the gap, but a final smash from Brown in the middle earned the 15-12 final mark for the 3-2 Waves' win.
 
Ahrens led the Waves with 19 kills, while Scully tabbed her 32nd career double-double with 12 kills and a team-high 19 digs.  Emma Ammerman also hit for double-figures with 11 smashes and Madison Shields, Kayla Joyce and Kayleigh Hames each posted double-digit digs with 16, 12 and 11 respectively.  Isabel Zelaya led the floor to a .216 clip with 50 assists.
 
HIGHLIGHTS


BIG WAVES
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 19 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 12 kills, 19 digs, 1 block, 1 ace
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 50 assists, 3 kills, 3 blocks, 8 digs
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 11 kills, 3 blocks
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 16 digs, 3 assists, 41 serve receptions (.976%)
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 8 kills, 7 blocks (1 solo)
Kayla Joyce (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley HS/FRC/CSU Chico): 12 digs, 2 assists
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 11 digs
Rosie Ballo (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills HS): 5 kills, 1.000 hitting %, 1 block, 2 assists
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 2 blocks, 2 kills
 
WAVES VS. TIGERS
Pepperdine led the attack throughout the match, amassing 60 kills on a .216 clip, compared to Pacific's 59 kills on a .129 output.  The Tigers led at the service line with four aces to the Waves' one, while also leading the floor with 79 digs to 75.  Pepperdine led the net, however, with 10.5 blocks, while allowing the opposition only 5.0 blocks.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          13        6          41        .171
2          11        5          28        .214
3          13        7          38        .158
4          14        2          44        .273
5          9          3          20        .300
TTL      60        23        171      .216
 
PACIFIC ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          17        6          39        .282
2          11        9          39        .051
3          13        7          35        .171
4          12        8          52        .077
5          6          5          21        .048
TTL      59        35        186      .129
 
SCULLY INTERVIEW


PLAY-BY-PLAY
Though the Waves carried the win from the previous night to an early 7-6 advantage, the opposition countered with a heavy attack to tie things up and take the lead.  After a 15-15 tied score, the opposition went on a 3-0 run to build a lead the Waves would be unable to overcome and despite late efforts from Pepperdine, Pacific was able to secure a 25-20 lead to open the match ahead.
 
The second set began much like the first ended, with Pacific taking a lead and Pepperdine trying to rally.  This time the Waves would succeed, however, tying things up at 13's with a block collaboration from Alli O'Harra and Emma Ammerman.  The two teams exchanged points shortly after, but the Waves were able to snag the edge with more blocks from Meg Brown, Isabel Zelaya and Ammerman en route to aa 20-17 lead down the back stretch.  Late kills from Rachel Ahrens and a few sneaky dumps from Zelaya kept the Waves ahead and a final smash on the right side tied the match 1-1 with a 25-21 set score.
 
Pepperdine came out strong in the second set, firing away towards an 8-2 early lead. Pacific was able to go on a 4-0 run to come within two and eventually tied the set at 9's.  The Waves pulled ahead at the 18-15 mark, but the Tigers refused to bow down and eventually came back to take a 25-21 set win for the 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth.
 
With the match on the line, the Waves were unwilling to give up, amassing a quick 7-3 lead in the fourth set with kills from Shannon Scully and Rosie Ballo.  More kills from Scully, Ahrens and Browns helped the cause and a solid Ahrens, Ballo block effort gave the home team a 14-10 lead.  With Madison Shields at the service line, the Waves capitalized on multiple Tigers' attack efforts and eventually led 19-12.  Brown and Zelaya came out of a timeout with a big block and Ahrens and Ballo closed the set down with a pair of kills for a 25-17 win to force a fifth.
 
The Waves would eventually come back from the 10-8 deficit to take home the five-set victory on a 15-12 final score.
 
NEXT UP
Next week, the Waves will host #12 BYU on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 23 and 24.  First serve in Firestone Fieldhouse is slated for 7 p.m.   The match will be live streamed and have live stats available on www.PepperdineWaves.com.
 
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.
 
FOLLOW
Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @WavesVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @peppvolley.  Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.
 
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