#24 Waves Host VCU in Final Preseason Match

MALIBU, Calif. — The #24 Pepperdine women's volleyball team remains in Malibu this week, hosting VCU in a weekday matchup to close out preseason before kicking off the West Coast Conference slate on the road next week.

MATCH #9 — Thursday (September 16) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: #24 Pepperdine vs. VCU at 5 p.m. PT. | Watch: WCC Network

LIVE COVERAGE — Live stats will be available for the match and will air on the WCC Network. Links can be found on PepperdineWaves.com.

TICKETS & SPECTATOR GUIDELINES — Tickets to all Pepperdine home women's volleyball matches in 2021 will be available via e-ticket ONLY. Patrons must purchase tickets to any event prior to arriving on campus. Individuals without tickets to an event will not be allowed on campus. Pepperdine faculty, staff and students must show Pepperdine ID card for entry — no ticket purchase is required.

To purchase e-tickets and read the spectator guidelines, visit: www.PepperdineWaves.com/Tickets. Due to campus construction, nearby parking is limited and guests are advised to arrive early.

Each match costs $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (65+) and $5 for children and non-Pepperdine students.

SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.

MILESTONES & RECORD WATCH — Rachel Ahrens marked a tied career-high 27 kills in the Waves match against #9 Washington last weekend and in doing so, she surpassed the 1,000-career kill mark. She became the 21st Wave to have accomplished the feat and now with 1,023 kills, she ranks tied for 18th in the Pepperdine women's volleyball career record books. She also has put in 129 career aces during her time with the Waves which ranks 4th in the Pepperdine records.

As for the record books, Ahrens has racked up quite a few mentions throughout. So far, she ranks atop the career Pepperdine records with 0.43 aces/set, and 7th with 4.19 points/set. Her points/set output makes her the first Wave to crack the points/set top-10 records since Katie Wilkins did so from 2000-03. Ahrens also ranks 1st with 49 total aces in 2019, 2nd in the single-season rally scoring single-season records with 0.44 aces/set, 4th with 4.44 kills/set and 5th with 5.13 points/set.

Isabel Zelaya ranks 6th with 10.47 career assists/set. To cap off the single-season rally scoring records, Madison Shields ranks tied-7th with 4.22 digs/set last season. She also ties for 3rd in the single-match records with 34 digs - both in five sets and overall.

SQUAD GOALS — The Waves have gone 7-1 so far this season, beginning with a 6-0 start to the 2021 campaign, the program's best open since 2008. As a team, Pepperdine puts up 13.39 kills/set on a .257 clip, while adding 12.21 assists, 1.88 aces, 12.06 digs and 2.18 blocks per set. They allow opponents 12.03 kills/set on a .250 clip, along with 10.82 assists, 1.21 aces, 11.61 digs and 2.05 blocks per set on average.

Rachel Ahrens leads the Waves with an impressive 4.52 kills/set, while also leading the nation with 27 total aces and ranking highly with 0.82 aces/set. Grace Chillingworth and Meg Brown are next for the Waves with 2.91 and 2.55 kills/set respectively. Brown also adds a .343 clip with her attacking presence and has marked 0.27 aces/set and 0.94 blocks/set. Rosie Ballo leads the block with 1.10 blocks/set after having amassed 33 total blocks including three solo rejections so far this season. Madison Shields holds down the back row with 3.45 digs/set, while Trinity Stanger and Kayla Joyce help the cause with 2.06 and 1.72 digs/set respectively. Isabel Zelaya is a well-rounded mainstay on the court for the Waves, dishing out 10.85 assists/set and adding 1.42 digs, 0.64 blocks and 0.42 kills per set for her squad this season.

LAST WEEK — Pepperdine went 1-1 last week in the 23rd-annual Asics Classic. Rachel Ahrens and Madison Shields were named to the All-Tournament Team. In the first match, a 3-1 loss to then 9th-ranked Washington (now #7), the Waves split the first two sets 16-25, 25-22 before falling 25-12 and 25-19 to close the day. Ahrens led the Waves with a tied-career high 27 kills to surpass the 1,000-career kill mark. She is the 21st Wave to have accomplished the feat. Grace Chillingworth picked up 11 kills and Shields led with 13 digs. Isabel Zelaya dished out 45 assists and Joyce added another 11 digs to the effort. As a team, the Waves put down 52 kills on a .209 clip, while posting 4.0 team blocks, three aces and 44 digs. They allowed the opposition 57 kills on a .439 output, with eight aces, 42 digs and 8.0 blocks.

In the second match, a close but thrilling win over Cal Poly to close the tournament. The Waves lost the first set 25-15, but rallied to win an impressive 25-8 second set. The Waves pulled ahead 25-13, but the Mustangs were able to force a fifth with a 25-17 fourth set. After going down to open, Pepperdine came back one again to win the set 16-14 and come away with the overall victory. The Waves had 66 kills on a .244 success rate, while allowing the opposition 52 kills on a .238 clip. Pepperdine led the floor with eight aces and 72 digs, to Cal Poly's two aces and 51 digs and each side collected on 10.0 blocks. Ahrens led with 21 kills and added three aces, eight digs and three blocks, while Meg Brown and Chillingworth marked career-best 17 kills each. Brown also added three blocks alongside Rosie Ballo, though Emma Ammerman led with four blocks throughout the match. Zelaya snagged her first double-double of the season with 53 assists and 14 digs and Shields led the Waves with 21 digs.

THE COMPETITION — VCU has gone 4-5 overall this season, including a 1-1 output on the road. The Rams are currently on a four-match losing streak with two sweeps under Florida State and #4 Ohio State, a four-set loss to James Madison and a five-set loss to Virginia. This will be the first time these two teams have faced all-time.

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