SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After dropping the first set 25-19 to Santa Clara, the #20 Pepperdine women's volleyball team rebounded to dominate the following sets 25-21, 25-14, 25-14 en route to the Waves' third-consecutive West Coast Conference victory this week. 
 
Grace Chillingworth worked for her sixth career double-double with 14 kills on a .407 success rate, as well as 11 digs.  Isabel Zelaya dished out 43 assists en route to seven Waves with four or more kills throughout the match. 
 
Next week, the Waves (12-4, 3-2 WCC) return home next week to host Pacific and Saint Mary's on Thursday and Saturday respectively.
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 14 kills, .407 hitting %, 11 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 43 assists, 8 digs, 1 ace, 1 block, 4 kills, .667 hitting %
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 7 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 8 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 8 kills, .582 hitting %, 5 blocks
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 16 digs
Avery Shimaitis (Sugar Land, Texas/George Ranch HS): 6 kills, .556 hitting %
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 9 digs
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 5 kills
 
WAVES VS. BRONCOS
Though it was a slow start for the Waves, Pepperdine rallied in the final three sets, posting .346 and .353 hitting percentages as a team in the third and fourth sets alone.  Throughout the match, the squad put up 52 kills on a .258 clip, adding seven aces, nine blocks and 50 digs for the victory, while allowing only 45 kills on a .171 output, with six blocks and 47 digs to the opposition.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        6          41        .195
2          11        7          27        .148
3          12        3          26        .346
4          15        3          34        .353
TTL      52        19        128      .258
 
SANTA CLARA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        2          33        .424
2          11        4          31        .226
3          8          9          26        -.038
4          10        8          39        .051
TTL      45        23        129      .171
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
After going point-for-point to open the match, Santa Clara broke away marginally, amassing a four-point lead at the 12-8 mark.  Though the Waves tayed close, the opposition would post a 25-19 first set win to take the first lead.
 
Though the second set began as tight as the first, this time Pepperdine had the edge, pulling ahead 9-6 with an ace from Isabel Zelaya and block collaboration from Vanessa Polk and Grace Chillingworth.  The Broncos evened the score at 11's before trading points en route to a 15-15 tied score.  The Waves started pounding down at that point, collecting on an ace from Rachel Ahrens and multiple kills from Ahrens, Chillingworth and Meg Brown for a 20-17 advantage.  More kills, this time from Emily Hellmuth, along with errors from across the net put the squad in a position to close.  An ace from Brown would do the trick for a 25-21 second set.
 
With the score now tied, Pepperdine came out strong in the third, intent on setting the tone early.  Three aces from Rachel Ahrens in the same service rotation helped the Waves achieve just that, along with kills from Vanessa Polk en route to a 13-6 lead.  Pepperdine continued on towards a 10-point advantage at the 17-7 mark, before going point-for-point to a 20-10 lead.  Kills from Chillingworth and Avery Shimaitis late in the action helped the squad close the set 25-14 and put the Waves in a position to win in the fourth.
 
Each side worked to an 8-8 tie in the fourth set, but the Waves then went on a commanding 9-1 run with kills from Chillingworth and Brown and a solo rejection from Shimaitis to gain the edge.  More kills from Shimaitis and a pair of block collaborations from Polk and Ahrens continued Pepperdine's advantage to a 22-12 lead late in the action.  Another pair of kills from Polk and Ahrens, followed by a final block connection from the duo ended the match on a 25-14 set win.
 
UP NEXT
Next Thursday, the Waves will return home to host Pacific at 7 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
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.