Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The #20 Pepperdine women's volleyball team dropped a four-set match to PCH Cup rival LMU on Friday night at Gersten Pavilion after posting 22-25, 25-20, 23-25 and 22-25 final set scores. 
 
Though the Waves (14-5, 4-3 WCC) led the attack effort with 54 kills and a .250 clip, the Lions (11-6, 6-2 WCC) had a bigger block and service output throughout the match to earn the West Coast Conference victory.  Meg Brown and Emily Hellmuth led Pepperdine with double-figure kills at 15 and 14 respectively. 
 
Next week, Pepperdine will remain on the road, making the trip up North to take on Portland and Gonzaga on October 20 and 22. 
 
BIG WAVES
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 42 assists, 9 digs, 4 kills, .667 hitting %, 2 blocks
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 15 kills, .462 hitting %, 4 blocks, 4 digs
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 14 kills, .33 hitting %, 2 blocks
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 14 digs, 1 ace, 4 assists
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 7 kills, 5 digs, 3 blocks
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 7 kills, 3 blocks
Trinity Stanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint HS): 4 digs
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 3 kills
Avery Shimaitis (Sugar Land, Texas/George Ranch HS): 3 kills
 
WAVES VS. LIONS
Pepperdine posted 54 kills on a .250 success rate throughout the match, while allowing LMU 52 kills on a .203 output.  The Lions would have the edge in other areas, however, amassing 11.0 blocks, seven aces and 52 digs, while the Waves would tally 39 digs, 8.0 blocks and one ace.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        7          33        .212
2          11        5          26        .231
3          14        5          35        .257
4          13        4          35        .257
TTL      54        21        132      .250
 
LMU ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          12        6          29        .207
2          10        9          31        .032
3          13        6          35        .200
4          17        5          34        .203
TTL      17        5          34        .353
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves busted out to a 6-2 start of the first set after Isabel Zelaya, Meg Brown and Grace Chillingworth found the floor.  A block from Vanessa Polk and Emily Hellmuth and another smash from Avery Shimaitis kept the Waves ahead by four points at the 10-6 mark, but some aces from across the net slowly let the Lions tie things up.  Each side exchanged points throughout the majority of the set, though the opposition gained a slight edge with a 20-16 lead after some costly Pepperdine errors.  It would be an advantage the Lions would ride until the end, taking the first set 25-22.
 
Pepperdine came out strong once again in the second set, building a 6-2 lead with kills from Brown and Hellmuth and a block collaboration from Brown and Zelaya.  Pepperdine maintained the lead throughout the rest of the set as well, keeping at least a one-point lead to the end.  Riley Patterson found a good spot to serve for her first ace of the match and Chillingworth and Hellmuth traded off on the smash front, posting a 21-20 lead in the final moments of the set.  The Waves then went on a four-point run with a block from Polk and Chillingworth, a kill from Polk and some errors from the Lions to end the set 25-20 and tie the overall one-apiece.
 
LMU snagged an early lead in the following set, posting a 6-3 lead, though the Waves countered to tie things up with a 3-point run with kills from Zelaya and Shimaitis.  The Lions still had the edge, however, and worked to another three-point lead at the 15-12 mark.  The home team would hold that lead through to a 23-20 score, but the Waves were able to capitalize on a few errors from across the net to make it a one-point chase 24-23.  A service error would close the set out in LMU's favor 25-23.
 
The fourth set was a see-saw battle from the beginning nearly to the end, with smashes from Polk, Hellmuth and Brown pushing the score to an 8-8 tied score.  The Lions then gathered a two-point lead, but more smashes from Kenadie Patterson and Hellmuth tied the score at 14's.  Another exchange of points saw the score through to a 22-22 tie, but a 3-0 run for the home team ended the match in LMU's favor on a 25-22 final set score.
 
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.