MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — For the third time this season, the #22 Pepperdine women's volleyball team upset a top-15 opponent, stunning #6 Minnesota in four-sets to open the Diet Coke Classic on Thursday night in the Maturi Pavilion. 
 
Prior to Pepperdine's (8-2) win today, Minnesota (4-3) had gone 22-0 in the previous 10 seasons in the Diet Coke Classic, producing a 57-7 all-time record in the program's own tournament.  The Waves had also beaten #9 Baylor and #13 Washington in four sets this season.
 
The Waves rallied back from a tight 28-26 first set loss to win the following sets handily with 25-20, 25-18 and 25-22 set scores.  After the first set, the Waves led the attack in every set, hitting a .375 and .300 in the third and fourth sets respectively. 
 
Freshman Emily Hellmuth had a career night, posting 21 kills on an impressive .516 success rate for the Waves.  Grace Chillingworth, Rachel Ahrens and Meg Brown were also big for the Waves with 11 kills apiece.  Chillingworth and Brown added three aces as well, while Chillingworth picked up nine digs and Brown produced five blocks.  Ahrens marked her 12^th career double-double by adding 10 digs and five blocks as well.  Riley Patterson was also impressive in the back row, marking her third match with over 20 digs with 21 digs and two aces to help the cause.
 
Pepperdine will be back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. PT, closing out the Diet Coke Classic agsinst Washington State, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll.   
 
BIG WAVES
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 21 kills, .516 hitting %, 2 blocks
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 11 kills, 10 digs, 5 blocks
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 11 kills, .333 hitting %, 3 aces, 9 digs, 2 blocks (1 solo)
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 11 kills, 3 aces, 5 blocks (1 solo)
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 21 digs, 2 aces, 4 assists
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 52 assists, 4 kills, .500 hitting %, 4 digs
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 10 digs
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 4 kills, 3 blocks
 
WAVES VS. GOPHERS
Pepperdine was solid on the attack front posting 64 kills on a .279 success rate, while allowing 50 kills on a .204 output to Minnesota.  The Waves also led defensively with 10.0 blocks and 61 digs, compared to the Gophers' 8.0 blocks and 55 digs.  Though Pepperdine had more service errors than UMN, the Waves also led eight to four in aces. 
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        7          43        .186
2          15        6          31        .258
3          18        3          40        .375
4          17        5          40        .300
TTL      64        21        154      .279
 
MINNESOTA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          17        5          42        .286
2          10        6          33        .121
3          10        5          36        .139
4          13        5          31        .258
TTL      50        21        142      .204
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves and Gophers started with a see-saw battle to open the match, working to a 5-5 tie score before Minnesota started to pull ahead towards an 11-6 lead.  After a 15-11 lead later in the set, Pepperdine started to close the gap with a few kills to come within one-point at the 16-15 mark.  UMN had pulled away marginally shortly after, but a smash from Emily Hellmuth and three-consecutive kills from Rachel Ahrens helped the cause to tie the score at 22's.  The Gophers had the first set point opportunity at 24-22, but the Waves battled to tie with another kill from Ahrens.  The home team then fought off two set-point opportunities, eventually tying the set and then taking the win 28-26.
 
After going point-for-point to open the second set to a 10-10 tie, Pepperdine started to pull away with kills and a solo block from Grace Chillingworth and an ace from Riley Patterson to pull ahead by three, 13-10.  More kills from Hellmuth and Meg Brown and some back-and-forth had the Waves ahead at the media as well, 15-12. More smashes from Hellmuth and Polk, along with a block collaboration from Brown and Chillingworth, helped the squad keep the lead en route to a 21-17 lead late in the action.  After some more back-and-forth, Hellmuth and Isabel Zelaya went back-to-back on a few attack opportunities and Brown added a solo block to put the Waves in a position to close the set.  A final smash by Hellmuth tied the match with a 25-20 set win for Pepperdine.
 
Pepperdine came out fueled by the momentum of the previous set, posting four kills – two from Brown and one-apiece from Zelaya and Hellmuth – as well as an ace from Chillingworth to pull ahead 6-0.  The Waves kept working on that energy, building a 9-1 lead with more kills from Zelaya and Brown and a Brown, Hellmuth block collaboration.  The Waves kept pounding down on the opposition, amassing a 10-point lead at the 12-2 mark and working towards a 15-5 lead featuring multiple kills from Ahrens.  The Gophers started to close the gap marginally at that point, working to a six-point deficit at 17-11.  Pepperdine showed no let-up late in the action, with a block from Ahrens and Kenadie Patterson and kills from Chillingworth ending the set with a 25-18 victory.
 
The Waves were clearly still energized from the previous set, busting out of the starting gates with more kills from Hellmuth and a third ace of the match from Chillingworth for the 5-1 lead.  Brown and Ahrens then collaborated on a block, followed by a smash from Brown for the 7-2 lead shortly after.  Though the opposition pulled together a few points, Pepperdine continued on towards a solid eight-point lead at the 16-8 mark with yet another Hellmuth kill.  After leading 18-12, the Gophers started to put a few points together to come withing one point at the 19-18 mark.  Pepperdine buckled down shortly after, however, and more kills from Hellmuth put the Waves ahead 24-20 and in a position to close.  Zelaya would be the Wave to finish things up, sneaking over the second touch for a 25-20 final set score and the four-set upset.
 
UP NEXT
Tomorrow, the Waves will continue the Diet Coke Classic against Washington State, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll this week.  First serve is slated for 3 p.m. PT.
 
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