Box Score PROVO, Utah — After a tight battle in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, the #17 Pepperdine women's volleyball team was felled 3-1 by #16 BYU.  Despite dropping the first set 25-12, the Waves rallied to win the second 25-18.  From that point on, the action had fans on the edge of their seats, but the Cougars were able to secure 25-21 and 25-22 set wins to close out the second West Coast Conference match of the season.
 
Rachel Ahrens and Emily Hellmuth led the team with 15 and 12 kills respectively, while Riley Patterson had another double-digit dig match with a match-high 15. 
 
Pepperdine (9-4, 0-2 WCC) returns home to face Gonzaga on Tuesday, September 27 in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
BIG WAVES
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 15 kills, 8 digs, 2 aces, 3 blocks
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 12 kills, 2 blocks
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 4 blocks, 5 kills, 3 aces
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 5 kills, 4 blocks, 4 digs, 1 ace
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 15 digs
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 5 blocks, 3 kills
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 25 assists, 6 digs
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 8 digs
Rosemary Archer (Fairview, Texas/Lovejoy HS): 11 assists
 
WAVES VS. COUGARS
BYU hit for double-figures in every set as a team, doing so for 54 kills on a .219 success rate, while Pepperdine posted 41 kills on a .126 clip.  The Waves were able to perform better on the block with an 11.0 to 8.0 ratio, while each side collected on six aces as well.  BYU had the edge defensively with 55 digs to Pepperdine's 46.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          7          9          30        -.067
2          15        4          30        .367
3          8          5          43        .070
4          11        6          32        .156
TTL      41        24        135      .126
 
BYU ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          12        3          22        .409
2          11        6          33        .152
3          18        8          48        .208
4          13        7          34        .176
TTL      54        24        137      .219
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
BYU came out swinging, amassing a 5-1 lead to open the set and gain momentum.  The Cougars then kept it rolling, working for a 12-6 lead en route to a 21-10 advantage.  The Waves were unable to rally in the set after falling behind and the home team closed out the set 25-12.
 
Pepperdine needed to flip the script early to gain the edge in set two and were able to do just that, finding the floor for 15 kills om a .367 clip throughout.  After a see-saw battle to open things up, kills from Grace Chillingworth and Emily Hellmuth helped the Waves pull away to a 10-7 lead.  The Waves would continue to roll, with two kills in the same service rotation from Meg Brown along with multiple kills from Rachel Ahrens to gain a 17-11 advantage.  A big block from Brown and Hellmuth kept the squad ahead and Pepperdine was able to deter a comeback attempt from the Cougars en route to the 25-18 set win to tie the overall.
 
The third set proved to be more exciting than the first two with a see-saw battle from start to finish.  Waves rallied after a 10-7 deficit to tie the score at 12's with kills from Ahrens, an ace from Chillingworth and a block collaboration from Isabel Zelaya and Vanessa Polk.  Pepperdine then had the edge with a 16-14 lead, but the Cougars were close behind to counter and tie things at 16-apiece.  In the final moments of the set, the opposition pulled away with a few well-placed kills and came away with the 25-21 set win to pull ahead once again by one overall.
 
The fourth set remained as interesting as the third, with each team reaching a 10-10 tied score.  A block from Polk, Ahrens and an ace from Brown kept the Waves moving along, but each side eventually saw a 15-15 tie before BYU started to run away in the set.  Kills from across the net gave the home team a four-point lead 21-17 and that would eventually grow to 24-18.  Emma Ammerman came in to serve, putting the opposition off-kilter and helping the squad fight off four match-points before a kill from BYU closed it the match out 25-22.
 
UP NEXT
Next week, the Waves return home to face Gonzaga in Firestone Fieldhouse on Tuesday, September 27.  After the home matchup, Pepperdine will get back on the road to face San Francisco and Santa Clara on Thursday, September 29 and Saturday, October 1.   
 
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.