MALIBU, Calif. — The three toughest teams in the conference will go head-to-head this week as the Pepperdine women's volleyball team treks down the coast for a PCH Cup battle against LMU and a matchup against San Diego. The Waves are currently ranked atop the West Coast Conference standings, while LMU and San Diego are in the two and three spots respectively.
MATCH #18 — Thursday (October 19) at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif.: Pepperdine (11-6, 7-0 WCC) vs. Loyola Marymount (14-4, 7-1 WCC) at 7 p.m. | ESPN+ ($)
MATCH #19 — Saturday (October 21) at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. San Diego (10-7, 6-1 WCC) at 12 p.m. | ESPN+ ($)
UP NEXT — Next week, the Waves return home to host Saint Mary's on October 26.
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 matches 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 10-consecutive matches including eight in straight sets. Pepperdine has not lost a set since September 23, having won the last 17-straight sets played. The last time the team dropped a match was on September 8. The current streak is the longest since the Waves won 13-straight in 2011 to open WCC play off.
WEEKLY HONORS — Junior Grace Chillingworth earned the first West Coast Conference weekly accolade of the season for the Waves this week, picking up the offensive nod after helping the team to a solid sweep over Santa Clara last week. It was the third career honor of its kind for Chillingworth.
She marked a solid 18 kills with only one error on 33 swings for a career-high .515 success rate, averaging 6.00 kills/set throughout the match. Chillingworth finished the match with 18.5 total points, averaging 6.2 points/set for Pepperdine. She also made an impact defensively, amassing eight digs and a block to average 2.67 digs and 0.33 blocks per set. The pin picked up 12 successful receptions without a single error as well.
SQUAD GOALS — The Waves have gone 11-6 this season, but have won the last 10-straight matches, including a 7-0 start to West Coast Conference play. Pepperdine produces 12.93 kills/set on a .256 clip, with 12.11 assists, 1.53 aces, 13.86 digs and 2.22 blocks per set. The team allows opponents 12.88 kills/set on a .208 success rate, while adding 12.05 assists, 1.30 aces, 13.89 digs and 1.81 blocks per set.
Grace Chillingworth, Birdie Hendrickson and Meg Brown lead the Waves with 3.60, 2.91 and 2.41 kills/set respectively. The trio also lead at the service line for the team, alongside ace leader Riley Patterson who has amassed 18 aces and 0.32 aces per set. Chillingworth added 17 aces (0.30), Brown posted in 16 aces (0.35) and Hendrickson has amassed 15 aces (0.28). Patterson also leads the defensive efforts with 3.70 digs/set, while Hendrickson and Chillingworth produce 2.57 and 1.98 digs/set respectively. Isabel Zelaya has a team-high 10.12 assists/set and has posted 577 total assists this season thus far. At the net, Brown has a team-high 1.02 blocks with 47 blocks including five solo rejections, while Vanessa Polk has a team-best 54 blocks including 10 solo rejections to average 0.96 blocks/set.
LAST WEEK — Pepperdine swept past Santa Clara at home last week, posting 25-18, 25-16 and 25-16 set scores. The Waves put in 51 kills on a .375 clip, while adding six aces, 52 digs and 5.0 blocks. The opposition was good for 35 kills on a .207 output with one ace, 45 digs and 5.0 blocks as well. Chillingworth led the pack with 18 kills on a .515 clip, while adding eight digs. Meg Brown also produced double-figure kills with 12 kills on a .625 success rate. She led the team with five blocks. Birdie Hendrickson and Riley Patterson put in a team-best three aces, while Patterson led with 16 digs and Hendrickson amassed 13. Isabel Zelaya led in playmaking duties with 42 assists.
THE COMPETITION — LMU has gone 14-4 overall this season, with a 7-1 start to league action, dropping their only WCC match to the Waves earlier this season. The Lions sit at an untarnished 6-0 at home and are currently on a six-match winning streak. Last week, LMU also bested Santa Clara in four sets, while besting San Diego in four sets as well. Pepperdine leads by an impressive 63-26 all-time, dating back to 1976 when the Waves won 3-0. The Waves went 17-1 against the Lions from 1984-91 and the longest LMU winning streak was five matches from 1994-96. In the most recent years, the Waves have gone 9-2 against the Lions since 2018, though LMU's pair of wins both came in four-set decisions last season. Earlier this season, Pepperdine beat LMU in four sets.
San Diego has gone 10-7 this season with a 6-1 record in conference action, dropping only to LMU among league opponents. The Toreros started off WCC play with five-straight wins before falling to the Lions last week. The team also swept past San Francisco on Saturday. Pepperdine leads San Diego all-time 44-36, beginning in 1979 when the Waves won the first match in straight sets. The Waves won the first 20-consecutive matches against the Toreros through 1993 before USD won five-straight through 1995. In recent years since 2018, USD has gone 6-4 against the Waves, including a pair of four-set wins last season.
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 17 matches now sits at 4,572 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.
