MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team returns to Firestone Fieldhouse this week to continue West Coast Conference play against Santa Clara.

MATCH #17 — Thursday (October 12) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara at 7 p.m. | ESPN+ ($)

UP NEXT — Next week, the Waves hit the road for a pair of close matches against PCH Cup rival LMU and San Diego on Thursday and Saturday respectively.

SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.  Find the Waves on Instagram @peppvolley.

ESPN+ — This week, the match will stream live on ESPN+.  Throughout the season, all of Pepperdine's home matches will be available on ESPN+.  The West Coast Conference and ESPN have expanded their longstanding media rights relationship. In addition to showcasing more than 25 games on ESPN's linear networks, ESPN+ will serve as the new, exclusive digital home for more than 900 conference events each year.  

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE — Live stats for all matches will be available with links found on PepperdineWaves.com.  

THE STREAK — After a 1-6 start to the 2023 campaign, the Waves have rallied tough, winning the team's last nine-consecutive matches including seven in straight sets.  The current streak is the longest since the Waves won 13-straight in 2011 to open WCC play off. 

SQUAD GOALS — With the dominant recent performance, the Waves are now 10-6 and began the West Coast Conference slate with six-straight wins including five sweeps. As a team, the Waves average 12.70 kills/set on a .249 clip, while adding 11.87 assists, 1.50 aces, 13.67 digs and 2.25 blocks per set.  Pepperdine has allowed opponents 12.94 kills/set on a .208 output, as well as 12.09 assists, 1.35 aces, 13.83 digs and 1.93 blocks per set. 

Grace Chillingworth leads the team with 3.46 kills/set, while Birdie Hendrickson and Meg Brown produce 2.94 and 2.30 kills/set respectively.  Brown does so on a team-high .318 hitting percentage and adds a team-high 0.37 aces/set to the table.  Grace Chillingworth produces 0.31 aces and 1.94 digs, while Hendrickson adds 0.24 aces and 2.47 digs.

Isabel Zelaya leads in playmaking duties with 9.91 assists/set, while Riley Patterson has a team-best 3.61 digs/set.  Vanessa Polk leads the team with 1.02 blocks per set as well. 

LAST WEEK — Last week, the Waves went 2-0 on the road, sweeping past both Gonzaga and Portland.  Against the Bulldogs, the Waves amassed 49 kills on a .321 clip, while allowing the opposition only 34 kills on a .124 output.  Pepperdine totaled 43 digs, 8.0 blocks and two aces, while giving up 33 digs, 6.0 blocks and four aces to the opposition.  Birdie Hendrickson led the team with 14 kills on a staggering .480 clip, while Meg Brown posted 12 smashes on a .526 output and Grace Chillingworth tabbed 11 kills on a .321 percentage.  Riley Patterson led the squad with 11 digs and Vanessa Polk had a team-high four blocks including one solo.  Isabel Zelaya led the team to the high hitting percentage after amassing 36 assists and nine digs.

It was another big offensive night against Portland as the Waves won 25-9, 25-22 and 25-14.  The team finished with 36 kills on a .432 success rate, the program's highest team hitting percentage in a single match since 2012.  That year, the Waves produced a .494 output with 46 kills and only six errors on 81 swings against Gonzaga (Oct. 12), a feat that ranks fourth in the all-time record books at Pepperdine.  It's the fifth time in the last 10 seasons that Pepperdine has amassed higher than a .400. 

The Pilots were able to amass only 30 kills on a .179 clip as well.  Pepperdine added 33 digs, 8.0 blocks and seven aces, while the opposition put up 27 digs, 2.0 blocks and four aces.  Chillingworth led the team with 10 kills on a season-high .409 clip, while marking another season-best at the service line with four aces.  Emma Ammerman was solid with nine kills on a .667 clip, while tying the team-high block effort with four alongside Polk.  Patterson once again led with 12 digs and Zelaya had a team-best 30 assists.

THE COMPETITION — Pepperdine leads Santa Clara 50-33 all-time, dating back to the 1982 campaign when the Waves won 2-0 on a neutral court.  The team went 15-4 through the 1991 season before SCU won four-straight matches.  Since 2018, Pepperdine has not lost to Santa Clara, having won the last 10-straight matches.  This season, the Broncos have gone 9-8 against opponents, including a 1-4 output in WCC play.  Last week, SCU dropped to both San Diego in four sets and Saint Mary's in three.

4,000 ASSIST CLUB — Graduate student setter Isabel Zelaya entered the exclusive 4,000 assist club during the first week of the season.  She entered the 2023 campaign with 3,995 assists and after the 16 matches now sits at 4,530 assists.  That mark puts her second in the Pepperdine women's volleyball record books, the fifth Wave all-time to have surpassed the 4,000-assist mark and the first since 2009.  Becci Roehl (1994-97) leads the category with 5,020 assists all-time.  This season, Zelaya has passed Kiah Fiers (2006-09) with 4,410 assists and Melissa Mehlhorn (2002-05) with 4,387 career assists.