MALIBU, Calif. — The #24 Pepperdine women's volleyball team heads up to Seattle this week to compete in the Husky Invitational hosted by #13 Washington.  The Waves will face Cal Poly on Thursday, before challenging the tournament-host Huskies as well as Northwestern on Friday.
 
MATCH #7 — Thursday (September 8) at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash.: Pepperdine vs. Cal Poly at 5 p.m. | Watch: Washington Live Stream
 
MATCH #8 — Friday (September 9) at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash.: Pepperdine vs. #13 Washington at 11 a.m. | Watch: Pac-12 Insider
 
MATCH #9 — Friday (September 9) at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash.: Pepperdine vs. Northwestern at 5 p.m. | Watch: Washington Live Stream
 
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
 
COVERAGE — All matches will have live stats and stream for all matches with links available on PepperdineWaves.com.
 
UP NEXT — Next week, the Waves will travel to Minneapolis, Minn. for the Diet Coke Classic, facing tournament-host Minnesota on September 15 and Washington State on September 16.
 
WEEKLY NODS — The Waves swept the second week of WCC weekly accolades this week after winning the 24th-annual Pepperdine Asics Classic with an upset over #9 Baylor and wins over UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State.  Grace Chillingworth and Riley Patterson earned offensive and defensive player of the week respectively.
 
Chillingworth earned MVP of the tournament, posting 3.36 kills, 0.55 aces, 2.73 digs, 0.73 blocks and 4.27 points per set in an all-around effort.  She marked her second career double-double against the Bears, posting 17 kills on a .438 clip with 12 digs in her highlight match of the weekend.  Patterson was solid in the back row, amassing 4.45 digs and 1.36 assists per set for the squad.  She marked 3.25 digs and 2.00 assists per set in the win over Baylor, while adding 5.75 digs/set against UCSB and 4.33 digs/set against SDSU.
 
HEAVY HITTERS, ALL OF 'EM — In five of the last six matches, the Waves have had a different kill leader, showing a strong offensive offering for the season. In the sixth game the squad played this season, three separate hitters tied for the game-high as well. 
 
In the opening week, Meg Brown, Avery Shimaitis and Rachel Ahrens led with 17, nine and nine kills respectively, while in week two, Grace Chillingworth and Emily Hellmuth led with 17 and 12 kills respectively.  The sixth match, Chillingworth, Hellmuth and Ahrens led with 11 smashes.  In those matches, four saw at least two Waves hitting for double-figures, while two matches had three in double-digits.
 
SQUAD GOALS — The Waves have gone 5-1 overall this season, facing two opponents nationally ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll top-10.  Though the squad fell to top-ranked Nebraska, the squad upset #9 Baylor at home last week.  As a team, Pepperdine has marked 13.33 kills/set on a .208 clip, while giving up 12.86 kills/set on a .171 output to opponents.  The Waves have also put in 12.43 assists, 1.38 digs, 2.90 blocks and 1.38 aces per set on average as well. 
 
The Waves have a strong attack front, with multiple big hitters representing in each match, led by Grace Chillingworth and Rachel Ahrens who average 3.05 and 3.00 kills/set respectively.  Chillingworth has also put in 0.38 aces/set and 2.71 digs/set for the squad.  Emily Hellmuth, Meg Brown and Avery Shimaitis are also hitting over two kills/set with 2.71, 2.71 and 2.29 kills/set respectively, while Brown leads all attackers with a .369 success rate.  Vanessa Polk leads at the net with 1.71 blocks/set, marking 36 total blocks and six block solos, while Brown and Hellmuth are also strong at the net with 1.05 and 0.95 blocks respectively. 
 
Isabel Zelaya has been the primary playmaker for the squad with 9.86 assists/set.  The back row has been no joke as well, with five Waves collecting over two digs per set on average.  Riley Patterson leads the efforts with an impressive 4.24 digs/set and 89 total digs, while Chillingworth has marked 2.71, Kayleigh Hames and Trinity Stanger have put up 2.35 and Zelaya had added 2.10.
 
LAST WEEK IN MALIBU — The Waves won the 24th-annual Pepperdine Asics Classic with wins over #9 Baylor (3-1), UC Santa Barbara (3-1) and San Diego State (3-0).  In the opener against the top-10 Bears, the Waves collected 59 kills on a .268 clip, while adding seven aces, 63 digs and 7.0 blocks.  Grace Chillingworth led the Waves with her second career double-double, posting 17 kills on a .438, with 12 digs, two aces and blocks.  Rachel Ahrens and Meg Browns also hit for double-figures with 12 and 10 respectively.  Vanessa Polk had a team-high four blocks, while Riley Patterson and Isabel Zelaya led with 13 digs and 39 assists respectively.
 
In the second four-set win over the Gauchos, Pepperdine put up 45 kills, 62 digs, 9.0 blocks and eight aces throughout.  Emily Hellmuth led with 12 kills, while Brown added 11 kills on a .348 clip while adding five blocks and three aces.  Patterson led with her tied career-high (while at Pepperdine) in digs with 23 and Chillingworth also posted 11 digs.  Zelaya served as the primary playmaker with 36 assists as well.
 
In the final matchup against SDSU, Pepperdine picked up 49 kills on a .371 output, with 36 digs, six aces and 9.0 blocks.  Chillingworth, Hellmuth and Ahrens each hit for 11 kills, with Ahrens leading on a .450 success rate.  Patterson and Zelaya led with 13 digs and 36 assists respectively, while Polk put in a team-high five blocks. 
 
THE COMPETITION — Pepperdine will start the tournament against Cal Poly, a team that holds a 25-16 overall record against the Waves all-time.  The Waves won the first-ever meeting in 1975 with a 2-1 win at home and the most recent head-to-head in 2021 in five sets at home.  The Mustangs went on a run from 1980-1989, but Pepperdine was able to go 11-2 from 1990-2009.  This season, Cal Poly has gone 0-3 with losses to #12 UCLA, Utah State and Utah Valley.
 
Pepperdine has a 4-3 record against the Huskies all-time, dating back to 1979-1989 when the Waves won the first four matches on neutral court.  In recent years, UW has posted three wins, including a 3-1 victory in Malibu in 2021.  This season, the Huskies have gone 3-1 overall, falling at Arkansas in the season opener, before defeating the Razorbacks in the match the following night.  UW also defeated Iowa and Illinois.
 
The Waves have faced the Wildcats twice, winning both on neutral courts with a 2-1 victory in 1982 and a sweep in 2002.  This season, Northwestern has gone 6-0 overall, sweeping fellow West Coast Conference foe Pacific at home, as well as UTEP and Tennessee Tech to name a few.