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Pepperdine University Athletics

Madison Shields
Jeff Golden
1
Winthrop Win 0-1,0-0 Big South
3
Winner Pepperdine PEP 1-0,0-0 WCC
Winthrop Win
0-1,0-0 Big South
1
Final
3
Pepperdine PEP
1-0,0-0 WCC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Winthrop Win 18 25 14 14 (1)
Pepperdine PEP 25 18 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | by Athletic Communications

#22 Pepperdine Opens Season with Four-Set Win over Winthrop

ATHENS, Ga. — The #22 Pepperdine women's volleyball team opened up the 2021 with a win on Friday afternoon in the Stegeman Coliseum, downing Winthrop with 25-18, 18-25, 25-14 and 25-14 set scores to open the Classic City Clash.
 
Senior Rachel Ahrens dominated the floor with 16 kills, while posting a tied career-high six aces which also ties for third in the Pepperdine rally scoring era single-match record books.  Senior Rosie Ballo impressed with 11 kills on a .556 clip with a career-best nine blocks.
 
The Waves open the season and the Classic City Clash tournament with a 1-0 record.  Pepperdine will continue the tournament tomorrow against Morehead State and tournament-host Georgia.
 
BIG WAVES
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 16 kills, .310 hit%, 6 aces, 6 digs, 4 blocks
Rosie Ballo (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills HS): 11 kills, .556 hit%, 9 blocks
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 10 kills
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 38 assists, 4 blocks, 3 digs, 2 kills
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 8 kills, 3 aces, 5 digs, 2 blocks
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 7 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 14 digs, 4 assists
Kayla Joyce (Chico, Calif./Pleasant Valley HS/FRC/CSU Chico): 14 digs
Trinity Stanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint HS): 8 digs, 1 ace
 
WAVES VS. EAGLES
Pepperdine commanded the floor throughout the match, posting 54 kills on a .279 success rate, while allowing Winthrop 40 kills on a .163 hitting percentage.  The Waves also led the floor with 10 aces and 11.0 blocks to the Eagles' six aces and blocks, while the opposition led 59-56 inn digs.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        5          43        .256
2          10        4          32        .188
3          12        5          38        .184
4          16        1          27        .556
TTL      54        15        140      .279
 
WINTHROP ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          9          5          30        .133
2          13        5          29        .276
3          9          7          40        .050
4          9          3          24        .250
TTL      40        20        .123      .163
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine opened up the first match of the season with a 6-2 run over Winthrop.  Though the opposition closed the gap marginally, the Waves always stayed on top in the set and multiple kills from Rachel Ahrens and Rosie Ballo helped the team keep a 13-11 lead.  After a 19-17 advantage, big Ahrens, Ballo block collaborations kept Pepperdine ahead and earned the squad a 25-18 set win.
 
The second set went point-for-point throughout most of the action, but after an 18-18 tied score, the Eagles put a few points together to pull ahead 25-18 and tie the overall.
 
After falling in the second set, Pepperdine came out with a vengeance in the third, pulling ahead 8-2 with a Ballo, Isabel Zelaya block and kills from Ahrens.  The Waves continued to push forward and three-consecutive aces from Ahrens, paused only by a Winthrop timeout, helped the squad to a 14-4 lead.  Late in the set, the Eagles put a few points together, but blocks from Zelaya with either Meg Brown or Ballo kept the Waves in charge with a 25-14 set in.
 
With the advantage heading into the fourth, Pepperdine grooved into a healthy swing pushing ahead 11-4 with smashes from Ballo and Emma Ammerman.  Three more aces from Ahrens and another smash from Ammerman put the Waves up by a staggering 21-8 with intent to finish.  In the final moment, Ammerman and Brown put another pair of kills down to close the set 25-14 and end the match with a four-set Waves' win.
 
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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