#20 Pepperdine to Play Final Regular Season Matches at Santa Clara

MALIBU, Calif. — The #20 Pepperdine women's volleyball team faces the last week of regular season competition before a hopeful postseason this week, making the trip to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos. The matches had originally been scheduled for early February, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATCH #18 — Friday (April 2) at Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.: #20 Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara at 6 p.m. PT.

MATCH #19 — Saturday (April 3) at Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.: #20 Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara at 5 p.m. PT.

NCAA SELECTION SUNDAY — Sunday will host two big events this week, Easter and NCAA Selection Sunday for women's volleyball. The NCAA Selection Show will air on ESPNU at 4 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 4. You will be able to find links on NCAA.com. This season, there will be a field of 48 teams, shortened from the usual 64-team bracket due to the worldwide pandemic.

The first round is Wednesday, April 14, and the second round will be April 15. Regional semifinals are Sunday, April 18, and the regional finals April 19. The national semifinals are Thursday, April 22, with the 2021 national championship on April 24. The tournament will be held at the Chi Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.

WCC NETWORK & LIVE COVERAGE — 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.

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 five-consecutive weeks, moving up from No. 25 the first week to No. 24, No. 22 and now No. 20 for the past two weeks.

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 — In nine weeks since the weekly honors kicked up this season, the Waves have earned nine of the 18 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 2nd in the West Coast Conference standings with a 14-2 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.

#14 BYU is in first with an 14-1 league output and #21 San Diego is third with a 12-4 conference record this season thus far.

LAST MATCHES — Last week, the #20 Waves split with #21 San Diego on the road, first defeating the Toreros 3-1 in the first match before falling by the same result on the opposition's Senior Night the following match.

In the first matchup, the Waves posted 58 kills on a .248 clip with six aces on the offensive, while allowing the Toreros 50 kills on a .301 clip with four aces. Pepperdine was good for 2.0 team blocks and 45 digs, while USD posted 10.0 team blocks with 40 digs throughout the match. For the Waves, Rachel Ahrens led with 20 kills, two aces and two blocks including one solo rejection. Meg Brown and Shannon Scully also hit for double-figures with 12 smashes piece, Brown while doing so on a .391 clip and Scully with a double-double including 10 digs and an ace. Isabel Zelaya led the squad with 47 assists and Madison Shields posted a team-best 11 digs.

In the second match, USD outperformed Pepperdine with 53 kills on a .289 attacking percentage, with nine aces, 6.0 tea blocks and 66 digs, while the Waves amassed 46 kills on a .152 output, with 4.0 team blocks, seven aces and 60 digs. Ahrens led the squad once again with 18 kills and three aces, while Brown and Scully posted 12 and 11 kills respectively. Brown once again with a .360 hitting percentage and Scully with a double-double featuring 15 digs. Zelaya put in 38 assists and a team-high three blocks with one solo and Shields led with 19 digs.

SQUAD GOALS — This season, the Waves have gone 14-3 overall and 14-2 in the West Coast Conference, posting an 8-1 record at home and 6-2 record on the road. The squad has marked two seven-match winning streaks this season - from January 26-February 23 and March 5-26. As a team, Pepperdine averages 13.79 kills/set on a .256 clip, while adding 12.97 assists, 1.23 aces, 15.58 digs, and 2.04 blocks per set. The Waves give up 11.82 kills/set on a .182 hitting percentage on average, along with 11.30 assists, 1.03 aces, 14.33 digs and 1.73 blocks per set.

Rachel Ahrens and Shannon Scully lead the attack force with 4.33 and 3.33 kills/set. Ahrens has marked 286 kills on a .266 clip and leads the team with 0.41 aces/set this season after putting in 27 Asics Aces for her team. Scully has marked 220 smashes with a .250 clip, along with 0.29 aces and 3.11 digs per set. Meg Brown and Alli O'Harra lead at the net with 0.85 and 0.95 blocks/set respectively. Brown has put in 2.48 kills/set on a .323 output with 56 total blocks this season, while O'Harra has marked 60 total blocks this season. Isabel Zelaya leads in playmaking duties with 11.18 assists/set and 738 total assists. She also puts in 2.35 digs, 0.52 blocks and 0.32 kills per set to help the cause. Madison Shields has been nearly unstoppable in the back row with 4.35 digs/set and 287 total digs this season. She is also second on the team with 54 assists for 0.82 assists/set.

THE COMPETITION — Pepperdine has gone 44-33 all-time against Santa Clara, dating back to 1982 when the Waves won 2-0 on a neutral court. In the past two seasons, the Waves have beaten the Broncos four-consecutive times, with two sweeps and two four-set victories. This season, SCU has marked a 5-10 overall record and a 4-9 record in the WCC, including their most recent three matches a loss to each San Francisco and BYU and a win over the Dons.

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