Skip To Main Content

Pepperdine University Athletics

Team
Sarah Otteman
0
BYU BYU2021 7-1, 6-1
3
Winner Pepperdine PEP 7-0,7-0
BYU BYU2021
7-1, 6-1
0
Final
3
Pepperdine PEP
7-0,7-0
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
BYU BYU2021 20 16 19 (0)
Pepperdine PEP 25 25 25 (3)

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

Unfaltering Attack Propels Waves to Sweep of #12 BYU

MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, came out swinging against West Coast Conference foe and #12-ranked BYU on Tuesday night in Firestone Fieldhouse.  The Waves commanded the attack force with 50 kills on a .349 team clip en route to decisive 25-20, 25-16 and 25-19 set wins to remain undefeated at 7-0 and hand the Cougars the team's first loss this season.
 
The win also marks the first time in the modern era the Waves have swept the Cougars (8-1, 7-1 WCC), with the last and only time having been in 1976 when Pepperdine won 2-0.  It's the first time the Waves have defeated the Cougars since the 2011 season and Pepperdine did so while also handing BYU the team's first set loss in the last 11 sets of this season during the match.
 
Isabel Zelaya led the floor for the Waves, dishing out 43 assists to propel her team to the impressive hitting percentage.  Shannon Scully and Rachel Ahrens led the team with 18 and 14 kills on .389 and .333 hitting percentages respectively, while Alli O'Harra led at the net with six blocks.  Madison Shields also owned the back row for Pepperdine with 18 digs.
 
BIG WAVES
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 18 kills, .389 hitting %, 7 digs, 1 block
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 14 kills, .333 hitting %, 2 blocks
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 43 assists, 8 digs, 2 aces, 2 kills, .349 team hitting %
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 18 digs, 2 aces, 4 assists, 24 reception attempts (0 errors)
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 9 kills, .583 hitting %, 1 block
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 6 blocks, 2 kills
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 5 kills, 4 blocks
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 8 digs
Kayla Joyce (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley HS/FRC/CSU Chico): 7 digs
 
HIGHLIGHTS


WAVES VS. COUGARS
Pepperdine was resilient on the attack front against BYU, slamming down 50 kills on a .349 success rate, while allowing the opposition only 34 kills on a .178 clip.  Pepperdine was also able to hit .400 in each the second and third sets, while giving up a .061 and .263 respectively to BYU in those sets.   The Waves also commanded the floor defensively with 52 digs and 7.0 team blocks to the Cougars 36 digs on 4.0 blocks, and the home team put up 49 assists on a .462 output, as opposed to a .311 success rate on 32 assists across the net.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        6          36        .250
2          18        4          35        .400
3          17        3          35        .400
TTL      50        13        106      .349
 
BYU ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          11        4          36        .194
2          8          6          33        .061
3          15        5          38        .263
TTL      34        15        107      .178
 
INTERVIEWS


PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine came out with energy, busting out to a 5-1 lead to open the match with a pair of Madison Shields aces and kills from Rachel Ahrens and Meg Brown.  After setting that tone, the Waves would not relinquish throughout the set, moving forward to a 19-10 advantage later after a strong service output from Shannon Scully featuring three smashes from Ahrens within.  Though the opposition started to close the gap late in the set, fighting off six set-point opportunities by the Waves, a kill from Emma Ammerman shut things down 25-20 and put the home squad forward heading into the second.
 
Even though the opposition had the late momentum from the first set, Pepperdine was able to regain composure and kick off the second set on another 5-2 run with smashes from Alli O'Harra, Ahrens and Ammerman.  BYU tied things up at 10-apiece, but a pair of solid Malibu Roofing Company appearances, first from O'Harra, Ahrens and then from O'Harra, Ammerman put the Waves ahead 15-11.  Kayleigh Hames would put the Cougars off-kilter with a strong serving performance and the Waves would capitalize on multiple attack errors from across the net en route to a 19-11 advantage.  Multiple kills from Brown and multiple smashes from Scully and Ahrens closed the set 25-16 in the Waves favor.
 
In the third and final set, the Waves were hanging as tough as ever and three near-consecutive block collaborations from O'Harra and Ammerman gave Pepperdine an 11-4 lead early on.  BYU wasn't quick to roll over, however, as the opposition climbed to within one-point at 14-13, but back-to-back kills from Isabel Zelaya and then some gave the home team another sizable lead at 17-13.  Late in the set, four kills from Scully helped the cause and Pepperdine finished up the night with a 25-19 set win for the 3-0 straight sweep.
 
NEXT UP
Tomorrow (2/24), the Waves and Cougars will meet again in Firestone Fieldhouse with first serve slated for 7 p.m. and the match airing live with WaveCasts on The WCC Network.  Later in the week, Pepperdine will make the trip to Waco, Texas to play the squad's first non-conference opponent by facing #6 Baylor on Sunday, February 28.  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.
 
Print Friendly Version