LINCOLN, Neb. — Although the Pepperdine women's volleyball team, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Preseason Poll, had a set-point opportunity in the first set and a lead in the third against Nebraska, the top-ranked Huskers were able to come away with a three-set win to close the Ameritas Players Challenge on Saturday night in the Devaney Center.
 
The Waves (2-1) battled back from an early deficit to have a 24-23 lead over the Huskers (3-0) in the first set, but the opposition rallied to win 26-24 and then continued on with 25-19, 25-22 second and third set scores to end the match. 
 
Rachel Ahrens, Grace Chillingworth and Emily Hellmuth led the attack front with nine, eight and seven kills respectively, while Vanessa Polk collected on eight blocks for her third-straight match with five or more blocks – averaging 2.3 blocks/set to open her collegiate debut.

Isabel Zelaya was named to the Ameritas Players Challenge All-Tournament Team for her performance this weekend.
 
BIG WAVES
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 9 kills, 2 blocks
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 8 kills, 8 digs, 1 block
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 7 kills, 5 blocks
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 8 blocks, 2 kills
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 23 assists, 9 digs, 1 block
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 3 blocks, 2 aces, 2 kills
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 11 digs
Trinity Stanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint HS): 10 digs
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 7 digs
 
WAVES VS. HUSKERS
Neither side of the net had an errorless day on the attack, though Nebraska had the slight edge with 38 kills on a .120 clip, compared to Pepperdine's 28 kills on a .009 output.  The Waves, however, led with 12.0 blocks, 49 digs and two aces, while allowing the Huskers' 10.0 blocks, 41 digs and one ace.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          7          7          38        .000
2          10        9          33        .030
3          11        11        36        .000
TTL      28        27        107      .009
 
NEBRASKA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        10        44        .091
2          14        7          40        .175
3          10        7          33        .091
TTL      38        24        117      .120
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
After falling behind 5-0 to open the set, the Waves started to find the Huskers' floor and make it interesting.  The opposition led 12-8 at one point, but multiple service errors and a block collaboration from Vanessa Polk and Emily Hellmuth helped bring the squad within two points, 12-10.  Pepperdine fell to a five-point deficit shortly after, but rallied late in the set with kills from Grace Chillingworth and blocks from Meg Brown, Chillingworth and Polk, Hellmuth to come within one-point 20-19.  Polk then laid down a smash to tie things up and followed that with a block solo before Hellmuth collected on another Waves kill for a 2-point Waves' lead – the blue and orange's first of the match.  Nebraska countered to tie, but errors from across the net gave Pepperdine a set-point opportunity.  Unfortunately, it wouldn't go Pepperdine's way though, as kills from across the net and a few costly errors flipped the script in the home team's favor to a 26-24 first set loss.
 
The second set began closer than the first, with each side of the net reaching the 8-point mark, but the home team would then pull away to an eight-point lead at 19-11 with a few kills and aces scattered in. The Waves started to rally towards the second half of the set with kills from Rachel Ahrens and Chillingworth, as well as another Polk, Hellmuth block collaboration, but the opposition was able to secure a 25-19 set win to pull ahead 2-0.
 
The third set told a different tale throughout, as kills from Chillingworth and Hellmuth put the squad up 7-4 to open things up.  A second ace of the set for Brown and a block from Polk and Ahrens edged the Waves to a 12-8 lead, but the Huskers started to get back into the set after that.  The opposition tied the set at 14's with kills of their own and three-consecutive attack errors from the Waves earned them a 17-14 lead.  Pepperdine wouldn't be able to close in on those three points throughout the set, however, and Nebraska finished the match with a 25-22 final set score.
 
UP NEXT
Next week, the Waves return home to host the Pepperdine Asics Classic on September 1-3 in Firestone Fieldhouse.  Pepperdine will challenge #16 Baylor on Thursday in the home opener at 6 p.m., before facing UC Santa Barbara on Friday at 6 p.m. and San Diego State on Saturday at 12 p.m.
 
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.