#24 Women's Volleyball Treks to Portland for Pair of Matches

MALIBU, Calif. — The #24 Pepperdine women's volleyball team hits the road this week, traveling to Portland for the next installment of West Coast Conference matches.

MATCH #12 — Friday (March 12) at Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.: #24 Pepperdine at Portland at 1 p.m. PT.

MATCH #13 — Saturday (March 13) at Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.: #24 Pepperdine at Portland at 1 p.m. PT.

LIVE — Live stats will also be available for all matches with links 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 COACHES POLL: RANKED — After going two weeks in the receiving votes portion of the AVCA Coaches Poll, the Waves earned a spot in the AVCA Coaches Poll at No. 25. Pepperdine moved up one spot this week to No. 24.

All three volleyball programs are currently ranked as men's volleyball and beach volleyball are ranked #4 and #8 respectively as well.

WEEKLY ACCOLADES APLENTY — For the third time this season, Pepperdine swept the weekly West Coast Conference offensive and defensive accolades this week as Rachel Ahrens and Madison Shields each earned their third respective honors.

In the six weeks since the conference started the honors this season, Pepperdine has garnered eight of the 12 possible honors. Ahrens (3), Shields (3), Meg Brown (1) and Shannon Scully (1) have each tabbed weekly nods this season.

Ahrens posted a career-high kill effort on Saturday. For the week, she averaged 4.00 kills/set on a .267 clip, while impressing with 0.46 aces, 0.54 digs and 0.38 blocks/set for 4.7 total points/set. Throughout 13 sets of action, Ahrens posted 52 kills with 21 errors on 116 total swings for a .267 success rate. She added six aces, seven digs and five blocks for 60.5 points.

In 13 sets played, Shields averaged 3.69 digs/set and 0.77 assists/set, while tabbing 48 total digs and 10 total assists for the Waves. In the first match against the Bears, she marked 22 digs, while tabbing four assists and marking 37 errorless serve receptions. In the three-set opener against the Zags, Shields put in 12 digs, three assists and nine service receptions without an error. In the final five-setter against the Bulldogs, she was good for 14 digs and three assists, while marking 40 service receptions with one error.

LAST MATCHES — Last week, the Waves downed Gonzaga at home in a pair of matches, sweeping the Bulldogs on night one and winning a five-set thriller on night two.

In the first match, the Waves downed the Zags 25-14, 25-19 and 25-20, posting 46 kills on a .330 clip with five aces, 5.0 team blocks and 50 digs. The opposition posted 31 kills on a .119 clip with five aces, 4.0 blocks and 48 digs. Shannon Scully, Emma Ammerman and Rachel Ahrens each led offensively with 15, 12 and 10 kills respectively. Scully added nine digs and Ahrens posted five aces and two blocks. Isabel Zelaya led the team with 38 assists and she and Madison Shields marked 12 digs apiece.

In the second match, Pepperdine won the first two sets 25-14, 25-19 before dropping the next two 25-22, 25-20. The Waves then came out to command the fifth set with a 15-5 victory to secure the overall win. Pepperdine posted 66 kills with a .291 clip, while adding three aces, 11.0 blocks and 62 digs. The opposition was good for 55 kills on a .155 output with two aces, 9.0 blocks and 55 digs. Ahrens led the team with a career-high 27 kills on a .358 success rate, while adding two blocks and an ace. Scully and Ammerman tabbed 15 and 12 kills respectively, while Scully also posted 15 digs. Zelaya was good for 54 assists and 10 digs, Shields led with 14 digs and Alli O'Harra had a team-high seven blocks with one solo rejection.

SQUAD GOALS — Pepperdine has gone 9-2 overall and 9-1 in the West Coast Conference so far this season. The Waves post 13.90 kills/se3t on a .278 hitting percentage, 1.00 aces/set, 2.47 blocks/set and 16.41 digs/set against opponents, while allowing their opposition 11.87 kills/set on a .156 clip with 0.97 aces/set, 14.23 digs/set and 1.36 blocks/set on average.

Rachel Ahrens, Shannon Scully, Meg Brown and Emma Ammerman all lead the attack front with 4.13, 3.54, 2.38 and 2.11 kills/set respectively. Ahrens leads the team and adds a .273 clip with 0.26 aces, 1.31 digs and 0.59 aces/set. Scully is good for a .275 success rate with 0.26 aces, 3.28 digs and 0.51 blocks/set. Brown has marked 1.05 blocks/set, while Alli O'Harra leads the team with 1.17 blocks/set. Madison Shields has a team-best 4.77 digs/set and Isabel Zelaya leads the Waves with 11.36 assists/set and has posted 2.46 digs/set.

THE COMPETITION — The Waves have gone 60-6 all-time against the Pilots, dating back to a 3-0 win on the road in 1987. Last season, Pepperdine bested Portland in both contests with a 3-1 win at home and a sweep on the road. This season, Portland has gone 2-10 overall, only posting five-set wins over San Francisco and Santa Clara.

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