Dons Shock Waves in Five-Set Bout

Saturday, October 29

Malibu, Calif.

12:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

16-7, 7-5

San Francisco

13-10, 6-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
San Francisco	19	12	25	25	15	3
Pepperdine	25	25	22	15	11	2

Photo by: Morgan Davenport

10/29/2022 3:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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By: by Athletic Communications

MALIBU, Calif. — After taking the first two sets 25-19, 25-12, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team was stunned by West Coast Conference opponent San Francisco, falling 25-22, 25-15, 15-11 in the following sets on Saturday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse. It is the Waves' first home loss of the season.

Three players hit for double-figures throughout the match, including a 15-kill, 13-dig double-double from sophomore Grace Chillingworth, a team-high 17-kill effort from freshman Emily Hellmuth and 12 smashes from junior Meg Brown. It was the 33^rd career double-figure kill match for Brown, the 14^th for Hellmuth and the 29^th for Chillingworth, while also counting as the eighth double-double for the sophomore.

Graduate student Riley Patterson and senior Kayleigh Hames produced the 21^st and 20^th double-figure dig matches of their careers as well, tabbing 19 and 17 digs respectively.

The Waves (16-7, 7-5 WCC) will now hit the road for the final week away from home, challenging Saint Mary's and Pacific on November 3 and 5 respectively.

BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 15 kills, .351 hitting %, 13 digs, 3 blocks, 2 aces
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 17 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 12 kills, 8 digs, 2 blocks
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 45 assists, 8 digs, 5 blocks, 1 ace, 3 kills
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 8 blocks, 7 kills
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 19 digs, 2 aces, 3 assists
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 17 digs, 3 aces

WAVES VS. DONS
Though Pepperdine led with 58 kills to San Francisco's 57, the opposition produced a .197 success rate surpassing the Waves' .188 clip throughout the match. The Dons' showed up at the net, out-blocking the Waves 18.5 to 12.0, though the Waves led 73 to 73 in digs and nine to three in aces.

PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        4          45        .267
2          15        1          28        .500
3          11        7          44        .091
4          8          9          34        -.029
5          8          4          25        .160
TTL      58        25        176      .188

SAN FRANCISCO ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          10        8          43        .047
2          9          3          27        .222
3          14        5          41        .220
4          13        4          34        .265
5          11        3          28        .286
TTL      57        23        173      .197

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The match was a tale of two sides throughout, beginning with a strong San Francisco output to open the first set 7-4. Shortly after, Emily Hellmuth and Grace Chillingworth found their rhythm to bring the set to an 11-11 tied score, before the opposition once again built a three-point advantage. The Malibu Roofing Company then picked up a few jobs as Vanessa Polk sent out three separate rejection letters, with the help of either Isabel Zelaya, Grace Chillingworth or Hellmuth throughout to put the Waves ahead 21-17. Pepperdine buckled down in the final moments of the set and Hellmuth and Meg Brown found the floor to earn the home squad a 25-19 set win.

The second set was virtually Waves from start to finish and after an 11-11 tied score, the Waves went on an 8-0 run with Riley Patterson serving up a pair of aces and then some at the service line en route to a 19-11 set score. Though the opposition picked up a point to cut the momentum, a pair of aces from Chillingworth put Pepperdine back on track and back-to-back kills from Hellmuth ended the set with a 25-12 win.

The Waves came into the third set intent to shut the match down, but the Dons had other plans. After Pepperdine pulled ahead 11-7 with smashes from Polk and a Kayleigh Hames ace, the opposition started to rally, tying the score at 13's. Each side then went point-for-point to a 20-20 tied score, but kills from across the net eventually ended the set 25-22 in the Dons' favor, forcing a fourth.

USF had the edge from the start of the set, amassing a 9-5 lead early and cruising to a 14-7 advantage after multiple Waves' errors and some positive attacking on their side. It would be a lead Pepperdine would be unable to overcome as the Dons then forced a fifth set with a 25-15 fourth set win.

The match was anyone's to take in the fifth and final set and though the Waves were the first to eight with kills from Avery Shimaitis and a block from Polk and Chillingworth for an 8-5 lead, the Dons stayed in the match. The opposition was able to bring out a strong block, having three players go up to defend on numerous occasions to tie the set at 10's and pull ahead, eventually winning 15-11 in the set to complete the reverse sweep.

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.