Box Score MORAGA, Calif. — A strong attack, fueled by the playmaking efforts of sophomore setter Isabel Zelaya, helped propel the Pepperdine women's volleyball team to its second sweep of the season as the Waves took care of business against Saint Mary's on Tuesday afternoon.  After relatively slow starts in sets one and two, the Waves rallied back to overcome the Gaels 25-15, 25-22 and 25-19 for the West Coast Conference victory.
 
Zelaya commanded the floor for Pepperdine, dishing out 37 assists to her teammates en route to a .336 collective hitting percentage.  Senior outside Shannon Scully marked her 29^th career double-double, and the first of the 2020-21 season, with 13 kills on a .355 clip and 10 digs.  Rachel Ahrens led the Waves for a third match in a row with 14 kills.

The Waves have now gone 3-0 to open the 2020-21 season.
 
BIG WAVES
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 14 kills, .333 hit%, 4 digs, 1 block
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 13 kills, .355 hit%, 10 digs, 2 aces
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 37 assists, 7 digs, 2 kills, 1 block
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 13 digs
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 8 kills, 0 errors, .444 hit%, 5 digs, 2 blocks (1 solo)
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 3 kills, 3 blocks (2 solo)
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 3 kills, .750 hit%, 7 digs, 1 ace
Kayla Joyce (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley HS/Feather River/CSU Chico): 5 digs, 1 ace
 
WAVES VS. GAELS
Offense was the name of the game in Moraga this afternoon, as the Waves' 46 kills on a .336 clip surpassed the Gaels' 36 kills on a .165 success rate to secure the win.  Pepperdine led the match with 5.0 team blocks and 38 assists, compared to the opposition's 3.0 team blocks and 34 assists.  SMC led the floor with six aces to the Waves' four, while each team posted 52 digs throughout the match.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        4          36        .278
2          15        1          42        .333
3          17        2          38        .395
TTL      46        7          116      .336
 
SAINT MARY'S ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          9          8          36        .028
2          13        8          40        .125
3          14        2          33        .364
TTL      36        18        109      .165
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Saint Mary's came out strong to open the match, amassing an 11-6 lead early on.  That would quickly end once Kayleigh Hames hit the service line, however, as a 10-0 run put the Waves back on top 16-11.  Kills from Meg Brown and Shannon Scully continued to edge Pepperdine closer to a first set victory and an Alli O'Harra, Rachel Ahrens block collaboration made it 24-15.  Ahrens sealed the first set 25-15 win to put the Waves ahead early.
 
In the second set, SMC once again came out strong, amassing a 13-5 lead to open things up with multiple service aces and a few Waves' attack errors to capitalize on.  Madison Shields would be the server to bring the switch in this set, though, putting the Gaels off-kilter to allow for multiple smashes from Scully and Brown yet again.  After tying things at 17's with an ace from Scully and a kill from Ahrens, the momentum had clearly shifted.  Though each side went point-for-point towards a 22-22 tied score, a kill from Scully gave Pepperdine the edge and the Waves were able to earn the 25-22 set win after a pair of Gaels' attack errors.
 
The third set told a different tale from start to finish, with each side working towards a 13-13 tied score in the middle of the action.  After that tied score, kills from O'Harra gave Pepperdine the three-point advantage and it would be a lead Saint Mary's would be unable to overcome.  More kills from Brown and Scully held the Waves' lead and a Kayla Joyce ace and a pair of Hames' kills late in the set gave Pepperdine the 25-19 final set win to secure the sweep.
 
NEXT UP
Tomorrow, the Waves and Gaels will face once again in Moraga at 2 p.m.  The match will be live streamed and have live stats available on www.PepperdineWaves.com.
 
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.