#20 Women's Volleyball Treks South to Take on #21 San Diego

MALIBU, Calif. — The #20 Pepperdine women's volleyball team is set for big pair of matches in San Diego this week, taking on the #21 Toreros on Friday and Saturday. The Waves also added a pair of matches at Santa Clara on April 2 and 3 to close out the season the following week.

MATCH #16 — Friday (March 26) at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, Calif.: #20 Pepperdine vs. #21 San Diego at 2 p.m. PT.

MATCH #17 — Saturday (March 27) at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, Calif.: #20 Pepperdine vs. #21 San Diego at 2 p.m. PT.

WCC NETWORK — Live stream and live stats will be available for all matches, with all West Coast Conference matches going live on the WCC Network. Links can be found on PepperdineWaves.com.

FURTHER COVERAGE — Live stats will be provided for all the matches this weekend. 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 four weeks, moving up from No. 25 the first week to No. 24, No. 22 and now No. 20.

All three Pepperdine volleyball programs are currently ranked as men's volleyball and beach volleyball are ranked #5 and #8 respectively as well.

WEEKLY ACCOLADES APLENTY — In eight weeks since the weekly honors kicked up this season, the Waves have earned nine of the 16 possible honors. Rachel Ahrens had earned four Offensive Player of the Week nods this season so far. Shannon Scully has also garnered an offensive weekly nod, while Madison Shields and Meg Brown have tabbed three and one defensive honors respectively.

WCC STANDINGS — Heading into the week, the Waves currently sit atop the West Coast Conference standings with a 13-1 WCC record. In the last two previous seasons, the Waves finished top-three in the conference with a third-place finish in 2019 and a second place ending in 2018. The last time Pepperdine finished with a WCC regular season title was 2011.

#15 BYU is in second with an 11-1 league output and #21 San Diego is third with an 11-3 conference record this season thus far. Last week, the Cougars and Toreros went head-to-head and BYU took 3-1 and 3-0 victories.

LAST MATCHES — Last week, the Waves faced PCH Cup rival LMU, defeating the Lions 3-0 at home and 3-1 on the road. In the sweep, Pepperdine picked up 25-22, 25-19, 26-24 set wins after amassing 48 kills on a .317 clip with four aces, 45 digs and 5.0 blocks. The Waves gave up 37 kills on a .210 output to the opposition, along with four aces, 31 digs and 4.0 blocks. Rachel Ahrens led the squad with 18 kills, while Shannon Scully posted 14 kills on a career-high .542 clip with two aces and blocks and 11 digs. Isabel Zelaya was good for 38 assists and Madison Shields led the back row with 13 digs.

In the match on the road, the Waves and Lions split the first two sets with 25-21 results, but Pepperdine buckled down in the final sets for 25-20 and 25-16 wins. The Waves put in 53 kills on a .225 hitting percentage with 10 aces, 54 digs and 6.0 blocks, while allowing 45 kills on a .214 output with four aces, 43 digs and 11.0 blocks. Ahrens led the team with 17 kills and a .414 clip, along with an impressive tied season-high five aces, while Scully added another 14 smashes. Zelaya added a double-double with 47 assists and 13 digs and Shields amassed 15 digs.

SQUAD GOALS — Pepperdine has gone 13-2 overall and 13-1 in the West Coast Conference this season thus far and are currently working with a six-match winning streak. The team's longest winning streak of the season so far came after winning the season's first seven matches. The Waves have garnered 13.90 kills/set on a .264 success rate, while adding 13.12 assists, 1.17 aces, 15.91 digs and 2.22 blocks per set on average. Pepperdine on average has given up 11.67 kills/set on a .169 hitting percentage, with 11.16 assists, 0.95 aces, 14.48 digs and 1.69 blocks per set to opponents.

Rachel Ahrens leads the Waves with 4.28 kills and 0.38 aces per set this season so far. Shannon Scully, Meg Brown and Emma Ammerman have each added 3.40, 2.41 and 2.07 kills/set respectively as well. Scully also has put in 0.26 aces/set and 3.10 digs/set, while Brown adds 0.93 blocks/set for her team. Alli O'Harra leads the squad with 1.05 blocks/set after having amassed 58 total blocks this season. Isabel Zelaya serves as primary playmaker for the Waves with 11.26 assists/set and 653 total assists this season, while adding 2.45 digs/set. Madison Shields marks 4.43 digs/set on average and has tabbed 257 total digs so far this season.

THE COMPETITION — San Diego currently ranks No. 21 nationally this week after having gone 11-3 overall and in the league this season so far. The Toreros mark 13.00 kills/set on a .255 hitting percentage, along with 12.04 assists, 1.69 aces, 14.61 digs and 2.27 blocks per set. USD allows opponents 11.29 kills/set on a .180 clip, with 10.39 assists, 1.35 aces, 13.00 digs and 1.71 blocks per set on average. The Toreros went through the first 11 matches of the season unmarked before facing No. 15 BYU last week and falling twice.

All-time, the Waves have gone 42-32 against the Toreros, dating back to 1979 when they won the first matchup 3-0 at home and went on a 20-match winning streak through 1993 including the first 14 wins by way of sweep. In the last two seasons, each side has won one match. In 2018, the Waves lost in three on the road and won in five at home (though the match was played at UCLA due to the Woolsey Fire) and in 2019, the Waves lost in five on the road and swept USD at home.

Print Friendly Version