#22 Waves Set to Play LMU Twice; Host for Senior Day on Thursday

MALIBU, Calif. — The #22 Pepperdine women's volleyball team will play its last match in Firestone Fieldhouse of the season this Thursday, facing PCH Cup rival LMU for Senior Day. On Friday, the Waves will then make the short trip to LA for the second match against the Lions.

Seniors Alli O'Harra, Shannon Scully and Taylor Akason will be honored prior to the match.

MATCH #14 — Thursday (March 18) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: #22 Pepperdine vs LMU at 3 p.m. PT. | Senior Day

MATCH #15 — Saturday (March 19) at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif.: #22 Pepperdine at LMU at 6 p.m. PT.

WAVECASTS — The San Francisco matches can be watched online via WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, a 2015 Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame inductee who is now in his 36th season, will be behind the microphone.

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.

FURTHER COVERAGE — Live stats will be provided for all Pepperdine matches, while live video will not. All links are 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 — Pepperdine has been ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll for three weeks, moving up from No. 25 and No. 24 rankings in the first two weeks to No. 22 this week.

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

WEEKLY ACCOLADES APLENTY — Junior opposite Rachel Ahrens earned her fourth-career and seasonal UCU West Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor this week.

In seven weeks since the weekly honors kicked up this season, the Waves have earned nine of the 14 possible honors. Ahrens earned her previous three honors on February 1 and 8 and March 8. Shannon Scully has also garnered an offensive weekly nod, while Madison Shields and Meg Brown have tabbed three and one defensive honors respectively.

Ahrens amassed an impressive 6.4 points/set in the two matches last week. She marked 5.29 kills/set on a .313 success rate to help the Waves to a 3-1 win on Friday and the straight-set sweep on Saturday. Ahrens also tabbed 0.86 aces, 2.29 digs and 0.57 blocks/set in the all-around effort. After seven sets of action, the junior rightside put in 37 total kills with 11 errors on 83 swings, while adding six aces, 16 digs and four blocks for 45.0 total points.

In the first four-set win, Ahrens led the squad with 24 smashes and only six errors on 50 swings for a .360 clip. It was the second match in a row she had amassed over 20 kills. She also marked an astounding four aces in the match, while adding eight digs and three blocks. In the second match, a 3-0 sweep, she was good for a match-high 13 kills on a .242 success rate. She added two aces, eight digs and one block in the match as well.

LAST MATCHES — The Waves went up to Portland last week and took down the Pilots in a pair of WCC matches, first winning 3-1 before sweeping the opposition. In the opener, Pepperdine won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-23 before dropping the third 25-20. The Waves then finished the match off with a 25-15 fourth set win. The squad posted 65 kills on a .292 collective success rate, while adding six aces, 67 digs and 10 team blocks. The Pilots were able to post 50 kills on a .246 output, with two aces, 62 digs and 8.0 team blocks. Rachel Ahrens led the Waves with 24 kills on a .360 clip, with four aces, eight digs and three blocks. Meg Brown and Shannon Scully also hit for double-digit kills with 16 and 11 respectively. Brown did so on a .500 success rate, while Scully added 16 digs for a double-double. Isabel Zelaya led the Waves with 53 assists and put in 11 digs towards the effort.

In the second match, Pepperdine posted 25-18, 25-14 and 25-19 set wis after amassing 41 kills on a .276 hitting percentage, while allowing the opposition 24 kills on a .078 output. Each side amassed four aces ad 8.0 team blocks, but the Waves led in digs 54-36. Ahrens led the squad again with 13 kills, eight digs and two aces, while Madison Shields had a team-high 12 digs. Alli O'Harra posted a team-best five blocks as well.

SQUAD GOALS — The Waves have gone 11-2 overall this season and 11-1 in the West Coast Conference, putting them atop the league standings alongside #21 San Diego. As a team, Pepperdine produces 13.82 kills, 13.04 assists, 1.06 aces, 16.16 digs and 2.30 blocks per set and has amassed 705 kills on 1,813 swings with a .264 success rate, 54 aces, 824 digs and 117.5 blocks. The Waves allow opponents 11.67 kills/set on a .164 clip, along with 11.14 assists, 0.92 aces, 15.02 digs and 1.63 blocks per set on average.

Rachel Ahrens and Shannon Scully lead on the attack front with 4.18 and 3.31 kills/set respectively. Ahrens leads the team in kills, as well as with 0.31 aces/set, while Scully has marked 3.18 digs/set and 0.25 aces/set for the squad. Meg Brown and Emma Ammerman also produce 2.51 and 2.12 kills/set for the waves. Brown on a .348 clip with 0.96 blocks/set. Isabel Zelaya leads in playmaking duties with 568 assists and 11.14 assists/set this season thus far. She adds 2.41 digs and 0.57 blocks/set. Alli O'Harra and Madison Shields lead defensively - O'Harra with 1.15 blocks/set after amassing 55 blocks this season and Shields with 4.49 digs/set with 229 digs.

THE COMPETITION — LMU has gone 5-7 overall this year, having defeated Portland twice and Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and San Diego once. Last week, the Lions fell 3-0 to the ranked Toreros before taking them down in five sets at home on night two. All-time, the Waves have gone 58-24 against the Lions, dating back to 1976 when Pepperdine won a 3-0 match on the road. Last season, the Waves beat the Lions twice, 3-1 on the road and 3-0 at home.

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