Waves Take #6 Baylor to the Brink, Fall 3-2

Box Score WACO, Texas — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team took #6 Baylor to the edge on Sunday night, forcing a five-set battle in Ferrell Center before falling 3-2. The Waves, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll split the first sets 22-25, 25-19 and 16-25, 25-23 before falling 15-7 in the final set.

Pepperdine (7-2) had four players hit for double-figure kills, while posting a .133 collective success rate overall. Next, the Waves return home to host West Coast Conference opponent Gonzaga on March 5 and 6.

BIG WAVES
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 15 kills, 1 block
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 14 kills, .444 hitting %, 4 digs
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 11 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces, 1 block
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 11 kills, 3 digs, 1 block
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 42 assists, 7 digs, 1 ace
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 22 digs, 4 assists
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 3 kills, 2 blocks
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 10 digs, 2 aces
Kayla Joyce (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley HS/FRC/CSU Chico): 5 digs

WAVES VS. BEARS
Pepperdine posted 57 kills on a .133 clip, while Baylor was good for 58 kills on a .224 output. The Waves led with five aces to the Bears three, while Baylor led at the net with 14.0 blocks to Pepperdine's 3.0 team blocks.

PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        6          44        .182
2          14        9          35        .143
3          9          5          31        .129
4          15        7          47        .170
5          5          6          24        -.042
TTL      57        33        181      .133

BAYLOR ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        5          37        .270
2          7          9          27        -.074
3          16        2          23        .609
4          13        7          45        .133
5          7          1          20        .300
TTL      58        24        152      .224

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Baylor took the early edge after first serve and it was a lead the Bears would not give up throughout the set. Pepperdine was able to stay close within throughout, staying within a two-point margin at 10-8 and 16-14 deficits. Late in the set the Waves came within one after a pair of Meg Brown kills helped the cause at 21-20, but the Bears shut the set down at 25-22 to pull ahead heading into the second set.

The second set started slow for the Waves but after Shannon Scully put a few kills on the board for a 9-8 advantage, it was all Pepperdine from there on out. The Waves pulled ahead to a sizeable 15-8 lead after capitalizing on a string of Bears' attack errors and a block from Scully and Brown. The lead would be one Pepperdine would keep through to the end, as kills from Emma Ammerman, Rosie Ballo and Rachel Ahrens helped the cause. A final smash from Scully closed the set down 25-19 for the Waves to tie the overall heading into the third.

Baylor came out strong in the third set, slowly amassing a sizeable lead with a strong attack presence. Eventually, the Bears would come away with a 25-16 set win to pull ahead 2-1 in the match.

Pepperdine came out swinging once again in the fourth set, intent on forcing Baylor into a fifth. After taking a 7-6 lead with an ace from Kayleigh Hames, the Waves continued to build and a later run with kills from Ahrens, Emma Ammerman and Scully and a big Ahrens, Alli O'Harra block collaboration put the Waves ahead 21-11 late in the action. More kills from Scully and a few choice errors from across the net put the Waves in a position to win the set at 24-18, but the opposition fought off five set-point opportunities to make it exciting. A kill from Scully eventually ended the set 25-23 and the Waves went into the fifth looking to play tough.

After going point-for-point to the 3-3 mark, Baylor took the lead and refused to let up, eventually taking the set win 15-7 to close the match.

NEXT UP
Next, the Waves will return home for the team's next West Coast Conference matchup, a pair of duals against Gonzaga on Friday and Saturday, March 5 and 6. 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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Players Mentioned

#18 Rachel Ahrens: OH/OPP; 6' 4"; Junior

#9 Rosie Ballo: MB; 6' 4"; Junior

#4 Kayleigh Hames: OH; 6' 0"; Sophomore; HS

#7 Alli O'Harra: MB; 6' 3"; Senior

#10 Shannon Scully: OH; 6' 2"; Senior

#6 Madison Shields: L; 5' 7"; Junior

#2 Isabel Zelaya: S/OPP; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#11 Emma Ammerman: OH/OPP; 6' 3"; Freshman; HS

#12 Meg Brown: MB; 6' 3"; Freshman; HS

#21 Kayla Joyce: DS; 5' 6"; Sophomore; TR

Players Mentioned

#18 Rachel Ahrens
: 6' 4"; Junior
: OH/OPP

#9 Rosie Ballo
: 6' 4"; Junior
: MB

#4 Kayleigh Hames
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; HS
: OH

#7 Alli O'Harra
: 6' 3"; Senior
: MB

#10 Shannon Scully
: 6' 2"; Senior
: OH

#6 Madison Shields
: 5' 7"; Junior
: L

#2 Isabel Zelaya
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: S/OPP

#11 Emma Ammerman
: 6' 3"; Freshman; HS
: OH/OPP

#12 Meg Brown
: 6' 3"; Freshman; HS
: MB

#21 Kayla Joyce
: 5' 6"; Sophomore; TR
: DS