MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team returns home to Malibu to continue the West Coast Conference slate against Saint Mary's this week.

MATCH #20 — Thursday (October 26) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (13-6, 9-0 WCC) vs. Saint Mary's (12-9, 6-3 WCC) at 7 p.m. | ESPN+ ($)

UP NEXT — Next week, the Waves remain in Malibu, set to host Gonzaga and Portland on November 2 and 4. 

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.

PROMOTIONS — Thursday's match will be the Waves' Dig Pink match.  All fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of the fight against breast cancer.  An assortment of pink goods will be available for fans and the players will be wearing pink jerseys to support the effort.

TICKETS & SPECTATOR GUIDELINES — Tickets to all Pepperdine home women's volleyball matches in 2023 will be available via e-ticket only at tickets.pepperdinewaves.com.  Pepperdine faculty, staff and students must show Pepperdine ID card for entry — no ticket purchase is required.

Due to campus construction, nearby parking is limited and guests are advised to arrive early.  Each match costs $13 for adults, $8 for seniors (65+) and $5 for children and non-Pepperdine students. 

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 12-consecutive matches including nine in straight sets.  This season, Pepperdine had a set winning streak of 17-straight from September 23-October 19.  The last time the team dropped a match was on September 8. 

This is only the eighth time in program history that Pepperdine has won 12 or more matches in a row.  The current streak is the longest since the Waves won 13-straight in 2011 to open WCC play off.  In addition to that year, Pepperdine also had 13-match winning streaks in 2008, 2001 and 1997.  The team won 15-straight matches in 1991, 17-straight in 2002 and a program-best 25-consecutive matches in 2003.

WEEKLY HONORS — Junior Grace Chillingworth repeated as the West Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week this week.  It was the fourth career honor of its kind for her. 

This past week, she notched a double-double in each match to propel the Waves to a pair of road wins against the #2 and #3 teams in the conference standings, including a five-set victory over the PCH Cup rival LMU and a sweep over San Diego.  Overall, she tabbed 4.50 kills/set on a .277 clip, adding 3.00 digs, 0.50 blocks and 0.13 assists and aces per set to average 4.9 points/set. She totaled 36 kills, while adding 24 digs, four blocks and an ace and assist. She also posted 45 receptions with only three errors through eight sets of action.

Against LMU, she blasted 18 kills on a .289 output, while adding 13 digs, three blocks and an ace. She averaged 3.60 kills, 2.60 digs, 0.60 blocks and 0.20 aces per set for the squad, finishing the match with 23 successful serve receptions and not a single error. She put in 20.5 points during the match.  Then in the sweep over USD, she posted another double-double, marking 18 kills on a .265 clip along with 11 digs, one block and one assist for 18.5 points. She boasted 6.00 digs, 3.67 digs, 0.33 blocks and assists per set, finishing with 6.2 points/set. This is both Chillingworth and Pepperdine's second Conference weekly honors this season.

For the accolade last week, 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 sweep over Santa Clara.  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 — Pepperdine has gone 13-6 overall this season and remains perfect against West Coast Conference opponents with a 9-0 record.  The Waves have won the last 12-straight matches, which is the eighth-longest winning streak in program history.  As a team, Pepperdine averages 12.92 kills/set on a .253 clip, while adding 12.06 assists, 1.43 aces, 14.20 digs and 2.15 blocks per set.  On average, the Waves allow 12.72 kills/set on a .199 output, along with 11.85 assists, 1.23 aces, 14.00 digs and 1.93 blocks per set. 

Grace Chillingworth, Birdie Hendrickson and Meg Brown lead the attack efforts for Pepperdine, having amassed 3.71, 2.84 and 2.39 kills/set respectively.  Chillingworth and Riley Patterson lead the squad at the service line, having marked 0.28 and 0.30 aces/set respectively with 18 aces apiece this season.  Hendrickson and Brown also help the serving efforts with 17 (0.27) and 16 (0.30) aces respectively.  Patterson also leads the effort on the back line, having amassed 3.71 digs/set this season after leading the team with 241 total digs.  Hendrickson, Chillingworth and Isabel Zelaya also produce 2.50, 2.11 and 2.00 digs/set respectively as well.  Zelaya is the primary playmaker for the squad with 643 total assists and 10.05 assists/set.  Lastly at the net, Brown and Vanessa Polk lead the efforts with 1.00 and 0.90 blocks/set respectively.  Polk leads the team with 57 total blocks, including 10 solo rejections, while Brown has posted 54 total blocks with seven solos.

LAST WEEK — Last week, Pepperdine faced off with the two other top teams in the WCC standings, prevailing with a five-set win over PCH Cup rival LMU and a sweep against San Diego.  Against the Lions, the team rallied from 21-25, 25-12, 23-25 set scores to win sets four and five 25-21 and 25-11.  The team posted 59 kills on a .242 output, with two aces, 74 digs and 5.0 blocks, while LMU was good for 59 kills on a .160 clip, two aces, 68 digs and 9.0 blocks.  Grace Chillingworth and Isabel Zelaya each tabbed double-doubles during the match.  Chillingworth was good for 18 kills and 13 digs, while tying the team-high in blocks alongside Meg Brown with three.  Brown also had 12 kills on a .407 clip.  Zelaya put in 36 assists and 11 digs.  Laine Briggs had a team-best 17 digs, while Riley Patterson added 14 herself.  Emily Hellmuth also hit for double-figure kills with 11.

Then in the sweep over San Diego, Pepperdine won with 26-24, 25-16 and 25-21 set scores.  The Waves added 44 kills on a .221 output, with four aces, 59 digs and 8.0 blocks, while the Toreros produced 34 kills on a .108 clip, four aces, 50 digs and 8.0 blocks.  Chillingworth and Zelaya once again posted double-doubles for the Waves.  The former was tabbed 18 kills and 11 digs, while the latter tallied 30 assists and 11 digs.  Birdie Hendrickson also put in 10 kills, while R. Patterson led with 16 digs.  Hellmuth and Brown led with four blocks as well, including one solo rejection from the middle.

THE COMPETITION — SMC has gone 12-9 so far this season, including a 6-3 record in WCC action to currently rank fourth in the league standings.  After going on a six-match winning streak to start things off, the Gaels hit a cold patch with nine-consecutive losses, including getting swept by Pepperdine, LMU and San Diego.  Since dropping in three sets to the Waves, the Gaels have gotten back to winning ways and are currently on a six-match winning streak, not having lost since September 28.

Pepperdine leads Saint Mary's 57-16 all-time, dating back to 1987 when the Waves won in straight sets before going on a 14-match winning streak through 1993.  The longest Waves' winning streak came form 1994-2003 when the squad won 19-consecutive matches.  In recent years since 2019, Pepperdine has won eight-straight matches with five by way of sweep, including this season's Waves' win. 

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 19 matches now sits at 4,638 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.