MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team won its 10^th-consecutive match with a 25-18, 25-16, 25-16 set sweep over West Coast Conference opponent Santa Clara in Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night. 
 
With the straight-set win over the Broncos (9-9, 1-5 WCC), the Waves (11-6, 7-0 WCC) have now won 17-consecutive sets and have not lost a match in over a month. 
 
Pepperdine dominated the attack efforts, commanding a staggering .375 hitting percentage against Santa Clara.  It was the fourth-consecutive match the team has posted a .321 clip or higher.  Two Waves hit for double figures, led by Grace Chillingworth with a solid 18 smashes on a career-high .515 success rate.  Meg Brown also collected a tied season-high 12 kills on a season-best .625 clip. 
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 18 kills, .515 hitting %, 8 digs
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 12 kills .625 hitting %, 5 blocks
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 42 assists, 7 digs
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 7 kills, 13 digs, 3 aces
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 16 digs, 4 assists, 3 aces
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 5 kills, .400 hitting %
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 8 kills, 2 blocks
 
WAVES VS. BRONCOS
Pepperdine came out of the starting gate firing on all cylinders, blasting 18 kills on a .366 clip collectively in the first set.  The team didn't hit below .300 in each set all night, finishing off with 16 kills on a .467 success rate in the third set.  Overall, the squad put in 51 kills on a .375 hitting percentage, while allowing the opposition 35 kills on a .207 output.  Each side of the net posted 5.0 blocks apiece, but the Waves led 6-1 in aces and 52-45 in digs.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          18        3          41        .366
2          17        4          41        .317
3          16        2          30        .467
TTL      51        9          112      .375
 
SANTA CLARA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          13        2          37        .297
2          10        6          42        .095
3          12        4          32        .250
TTL      35        12        111      .207
 
NOTABLES

• Pepperdine is on a 10-match winning streak.
• Eight of the last 10 wins, including the last five-consecutive wins, have been in straight sets.
• The Waves have won 17-consecutive sets.
• The last time the Waves had an eight-match streak or higher was in 2011 when the program started off WCC play with 13-straight wins.
• The last time Pepperdine lost a set was on September 23 and the last time the team lost a match was on September 8.
• Isabel Zelaya ranks second in career assists in the Pepperdine women's volleyball all-time record books.  After tonight, she has amassed 4,572 assists.  The program record is held by Becca Roehl with 5,020 assists from 1994-97.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Though Santa Clara had the first point of the match, that would be the only lead the Broncos would hold for the remainder, as a kill from Emma Ammerman and an ace from Riley Patterson quickly tied the tables for Pepperdine.  A 2-2 would be the last tied score as well as a pair of Meg Brown smashes, followed by a Grace Chillingworth kill would put the Waves up by three.  SCU came within one at the 7-6 mark, but more kills from Birdie Hendrickson and Vanessa Polk and a block collaboration from Chillingworth and Brown would push the squad to a 15-9 advantage.  More big smashes from Ammerman and Brown would continue the squad's lead and a final Chillingworth kill would end the set 25-18 in favor of the Waves.
 
A strong serving presence from Hendrickson including a pair of aces and featuring big kills from Ammerman and Polk helped the Waves to an 8-0 run to start the second set.  Kills from Brown and Chillingworth extended the gap to 10-points at the 12-2 mark and a block shortly after from Brown and Hendrickson made it 14-5.  Successful attacks from Ammerman and Hendrickson kept things moving forward and the home team ahead by a dime through the majority of the rest of the set.  Though the opposition gained some traction in the final few points, the damage was done and Pepperdine won the set 25-16 to head into the third set with a 2-0 advantage.
 
The Waves were strong offensively in the third set as well, starting on a 3-0 run with a pair of kills from Ammerman and Chillingworth and a block from Ammerman and Brown.  More smashes from Brown, Hendrickson and Zelaya, as well as a third-ace from Hendrickson, kept the squad moving forward en route to a 14-9 lead.  Late in the set, a strong Riley Patterson service effort, featuring her third ace of the match as well as a block from Brown and Ammerman and four kills from Chillingworth put the Waves up 24-16 and in a position to close.  An attack error from across the net would do the trick for a 25-16 set win to complete the sweep.
 
NEXT UP
Next week, the Waves will make the short trip down PCH to take on PCH Cup rival LMU on Thursday before continuing West Coast Conference play against San Diego Saturday on the road.
 
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.

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