MORAGA, Calif. — Sophomore
Grace Chillingworth amassed a career-high .475 hitting percentage on top of a season-best 20 kills in the Pepperdine women's volleyball team's 25-22, 25-20, 25-15 sweep over West Coast Conference opponent Saint Mary's at UCU Pavilion on Thursday night.
This was the 30
th match of the outside hitter's career reaching the double-figure kill mark and the 2
nd with at least 20 kills in a match. Senior
Meg Brown also tabbed 12 kills, reaching double-figure smashes for the 34
th time in her career, while leading the Waves with seven blocks.
Riley Patterson amassed over 20 digs for the 6
th time since she's donned the navy and orange, finishing with 21 on the night.
The Waves improve to 17-7 overall and 8-5 in league action with the win.
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 20 kills, .475 hitting %, 8 digs, 5
blocks (1 solo)
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 12 kills, .474 hitting %, 7 blocks
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 21 digs, 2 aces
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 36 assists, 4 blocks, 2 aces
Trinity Stanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint HS): 10 digs, 1 ace
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 6 kills, 2 blocks
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 7 digs
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 3 blocks
WAVES VS. GAELS
Though each side of the net took virtually the same amount of attack attempts – 112 for the Gaels and 111 for the Waves – Pepperdine led with 44 kills on a .279, while Saint Mary's amassed only 30 kills on a .071. The Waves also led 12.0 to 7.0 in blocks and 52 to 47 in digs, while Pepperdine and SMC each totaled five aces per team.
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 14 3 42 .262
2 14 6 37 .216
3 16 4 32 .375
TTL 44 13 111 .279
SAINT MARY'S ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 11 7 49 .082
2 9 7 29 .069
3 10 8 34 .059
TTL 30 22 112 .071
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Saint Mary's began the match with a 5-1 scoring run to pull ahead early, using it to eventually lead 12-5. At that point, the Waves started to gain momentum after a pair of kills from
Grace Chillingworth got the squad back on track. An ace from
Riley Patterson, followed by some more kills from Chillingworth and
Meg Brown and Pepperdine was one-away, 16-15. After a see-saw battle ended with the Waves tying the set on top of a smash from
Emma Ammerman and another Patterson ace, the Waves rolled through to a 25-22 set win, ending on a pair of Brown, Chillingworth block collaborations.
The Waves used the momentum from the end of the first set to propel to a 4-0 lead to start the second, fueled on a block assist from
Vanessa Polk and Chillingworth and a solo job from the latter. Three nearly consecutive kills from Brown then kept the squad moving forward to a 12-6 advantage and it would be a lead the Gaels would not come close to catching throughout the remainder of the set. Another pair of kills from Ammerman and an ace from
Trinity Stanger made it 20-13, and Pepperdine was quick to close the set 25-20 with an ace from
Isabel Zelaya and a smash from Ammerman.
The Wavers were sure to show no let-up in the third, commanding the floor with multiple kills from Chillingworth and three separate block assists featuring Brown with Chillingworth, Zelaya or
Avery Shimaitis en route to a 13-4 lead. Another block collaboration from Ammerman and
Kenadie Patterson edged Pepperdine ahead and back-to-back smashes from Chillingworth and Brown made it 20-13 towards the final moments of the match. Chillingworth would put down the final kill, marking a season-high with her 20
th to earn the Waves a 25-15 set win and the 3-0 sweep over Saint Mary's.
UP NEXT
On Saturday, the Waves continue the Bay Area road trip at Pacific for a 12 p.m. matchup against the Tigers.
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.
