Meg Brown is a rising junior middle blocker for the Pepperdine women's volleyball team. As a freshman in 2020, she started in all 81 sets and was second on the team with 0.88 blocks per set and earned WCC Freshman of the Year. In 2021, she played in 96 of 106 total sets and was third on the team in total points with 298.5, more than three points per set. Brown leads a strong returning roster for the Waves and the team looks to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2022:
 
Q: In your own words, how would you describe the 2021 season?
 
A: I think the 2021 season was an excellent growth year for our program. Coming off of a pretty successful 2020 season during COVID, we just built off of that. And we didn't really lose a lot of girls coming into last season. And we think we can continue to build with the core we've established the past two years. We rise up the top 25 rankings each year, which is incredible, and being a part of that journey to hopefully contend for a national championship is super exciting.
 
Q: Did the team have a different energy to it compared to the 2020-21 COVID season?
 
A: I think the stakes were higher because it was the same group of girls, for the most part. It really added an additional level of trust for us. So growing amongst ourselves both on and off the court allowed us to just be better players and people. So, I think the energy was raised exponentially just because of our growth as a program.
 
Q: Individually, how high were your expectations coming into last season as the reigning WCC Freshman of the Year?
 
A: Personally, I hold myself to a pretty high standard of excellence. But I also didn't want to let those awards and accomplishments get in the way of continuing to get better. And so I just decided to push that aside, and continue to grow in who I am as a player and learn how to play college volleyball at the highest level possible. So, it was a fun new challenge for me to have an award attached to me, but also to work through it and not let it slow me down.
 
Q: Walk us through how the team was feeling towards the end of WCC play last season leading up to the tournament.
 
A: So, I got injured late in the season against LMU and had to miss four matches. That kind of led to some losses that we weren't expecting. The losses added tension to be more successful and finish the season strong, which luckily we did. It was so exciting to get through that and have another chance to compete in the tournament.
 
Q: Tell us about the hard-fought loss in the first round to UCF.
 
A: It was definitely not our best showing. We were really bummed at the end of it but we competed with a lot of heart the whole time. And UCF was an amazing team. After getting shaken up in the first set we responded really well with a competitive set number two. Overall, they served us well and made it hard for us to adjust. Rachel (Ahrens) is our top scorer but it's hard to run our offense when our passing isn't where it needs to be. UCF was the better team that day but it adds motivation to have a better showing than we did last year.
 
Q: How would you rate your individual performance last season?
 
A: I think I did pretty well. I'm always challenging myself to be as good as I can. Also, trying to gradually improve stats every year without letting it determine how I play. By the end of my freshman season, I knew that I would be in the lineup from there on out. So last year I knew I had to be a smarter player and be better with my approach. And also I grew in my defense and blocking because I've always been an offensive middle. Overall, it was a really fun season to get better.
 
Q: Of the top-five scorers from the team last season, three were underclassmen, yourself included. How do you think that group improves next season?
 
A: It's so exciting to have a core of young, great players — plus the freshmen class that's coming in — we have so much depth on our hands. And the more we play, the more we see how college volleyball works, we get better. We were scoring at a pretty high percentage even as underclassmen, it gives us a lot to look forward to.
 
Q: After losing a couple of key seniors like Madison Shields and Rosie Ballo, how does the team look personnel-wise for 2022?
 
A: That's a great question. I'm so stoked for the girls coming in, both freshmen and transfers. We all play at such a high level and the depth gives us so many options as to what we can do. We can expect to see Rachel on the outside, me in the middle, Isa (Zelaya) setting. But other than that, there's going to be a lot of players with an opportunity. I know our coaches are going to pull something together for us and win a lot of games.
 
Q: Are there any areas of focus for the team this offseason?
 
A: Our biggest focus right now is team defense. For years we could rely on Mad Dog (Shields) to defend two-thirds of the court; she was that good of a player. Her being gone is going to put more pressure on the blockers this year, but we're going to put in a lot of work this offseason. We'll have a pretty big front row, all 6-3 and up, so we're going to have a different style of play this year. We're super excited to play around with those changes — we're ready for it.
 
Q: Lastly, what's one thing you want the Pepperdine student body to know about your team?
 
A: That we're a really, really fun team. I always say that volleyball is the easiest spot to watch because there's always action. This team has a lot of heart and is so competitive, we're going to prove a point next year and show the school who we are.