MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball program, a team receiving votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, earned its third win in three days at the 24^th-annual Pepperdine Asics Classic with a 3-0 rout of San Diego State on Saturday afternoon at Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
Pepperdine (5-1) controlled the match over the Aztecs (2-3), leading in nearly every statistical category. Three Waves had double-digit kills for the third time this season, with Grace Chillingworth, Emily Hellmuth and Rachel Ahrens each recording 11 kills. This was Hellmuth's third career double-figure kill output in her sixth career game.
 
Graduate transfer Riley Patterson led the squad in digs once again, nabbing 13 to go along with six assists. Vanessa Polk led the squad in blocks for the fifth match this season with five.  Prior to today's match, she was leading the nation in blocks. 
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 11 kills, seven digs, 3 blocks, 2 aces
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 11 kills, 3 blocks
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 9 kills (.438 hitting %), 3 blocks
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 36 assists, five digs, two blocks, 1 ace
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 11 kills
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 13 digs, 6 assists, 1 kill
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 5 blocks, 4 kills, 3 digs, 1 assist
Kayleigh Hames (Maryville, Tenn./Webb School of Knoxville): 3 digs, 1 ace
 
WAVES VS. AZTECS
Both teams were even in the attack, with Pepperdine holding one more kill at a 49 to 48 advantage. San Diego State had nine more errors than the Waves, with Pepperdine hitting .371 compared to the Aztecs' clip of .259. Pepperdine had twice as many blocks as SDSU, collecting 9.0 compared to the Aztecs' 4.5, while each team had six aces apiece.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        2          34        .353
2          13        4          27        .333
3          22        4          44        .409
TTL      49        10        105      .371
 
SDSU ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        7          39        .231
2          12        6          28        .214
4          20        6          45        .311
TTL      48        19        112      .259
 
PEPPERDINE ASICS CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Grace Chillingworth: MVP
Meg Brown
Rachel Ahrens
 


PLAY-BY-PLAY
Each side was neck-and-neck through the opening portion of the first set. Following an Ahrens kill, San Diego State called the first timeout of the match with Pepperdine leading 13-8. The advantage for Pepperdine grew to five once again at 16-11 after a Hellmuth kill midway through the set. The Aztecs cut the lead to three at 21-18 after an Aztecs' kill, which prompted a Waves' timeout.  Pepperdine heard what the team needed, however, and put the first set away with four straight points including an attack error by the Aztecs being the final blow in the first frame.
 
Pepperdine scored the first two points of the second set before SDSU rallied with three points to take the lead. Throughout the set, there were eight tied scored and two lead changes with 4-4 and 9-9 tied scores early on.  After SDSU took an 11-9 lead, Pepperdine roared back with five straight points to take a 14-11 lead and forced an Aztec timeout. The run continued after the timeout, with the Waves scoring seven consecutive points before a service error got the Aztecs back on the board to make it a 16-12 game. Pepperdine closed the set out with three straight points and a Chillingworth kill to end it.
 
The Waves scored the first three points of the third set before SDSU answered with three of their own. The set of runs continued as Pepperdine rattled off the next four to take a 7-3 lead. After Pepperdine held the four-point lead at 10-6, SDSU tied the match up at 10, prompting a Pepperdine timeout. Before it was all said and done, SDSU scored seven-straight to make it 13-10 but a service error halted the run. The Aztecs took their biggest lead of the match at 19-13 before Pepperdine answered with a pair of kills to cut the lead to four.
 
At 23-18 in favor of SDSU, Pepperdine called timeout and regrouped to make it a 23-21 game after a Isabel Zelaya, Vanessa Polk block collaboration. The Waves fought off seven set points, featuring smashes from Emily Hellmuth and Chillingworth and a block solo from Hellmuth as well.  After capitalizing on an attack error from across the net for a second Pepperdine match-point opportunity, Hames found an opening for an ace to win the match.
 
UP NEXT
The Waves will head to Seattle, Wash., for the Alaska Airlines Invitational next Thursday and Friday hosted by the University of Washington. First serve between the Waves and Cal Poly is Thursday evening at 5:00 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.