MALIBU, Calif. — On Thursday night in Firestone Fieldhouse, the 2023 Pepperdine women's volleyball team swept past West Coast Conference foe Saint Mary's to achieve a feat that only eight teams in Pepperdine's storied history have accomplished, a streak of 13^th-consecutive victories. 
 
The streak ties for the fourth-best streak in program history.  The last time Pepperdine won 13-straight was in 2011, 2008, 2001 and 1997.  The longest winning streak in program history is 25-consecutive matches in 2003.  Prior to that, for the second and third-longest Pepperdine winning streaks of all-time, the Waves won 17-straight in 2002 and 15-straight in 1991.
 
The Waves (14-6, 10-0 WCC) have now started WCC action with a perfect 10-0 record, including the 25-14, 25-20, 25-17 win over the Gaels (12-10, 6-4 WCC) tonight.  Pepperdine has only lost three sets out of the 33 sets played against WCC opponents so far this season.
 
On the attack front, five players tagged seven or more kills throughout the match, with two hitting for double-figures and the Waves hitting an impressive .333 collectively as a team.  It's the seventh time this season that Pepperdine has hit with a clip above .300.  Grace Chillingworth and Emily Hellmuth amassed 16 and 10 kills respectively, both with a .318 hitting percentage or higher.   
 
Serving was also a key component to the win tonight, as five separate Waves amassed two or more aces, led by Birdie Hendrickson with a tied season-high three aces. 
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 16 kills, .324 hitting %, 3 blocks, 8 digs, 2 aces
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 7 kills, 9 digs, 3 aces
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 39 assists, 8 digs
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 7 kills, .417 hitting %, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 10 kills, .318 hitting %, 4 blocks
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 7 kills, .417 hitting %, 5 blocks (1 solo)
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 6 digs, 2 aces
Laine Briggs (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS): 5 digs, 2 aces
 
WAVES VS. GAELS
Pepperdine dominated the attack efforts in Firestone tonight, having amassed nearly double the number of kills as Saint Mary's throughout.  The Waves smacked down 48 kills on a .333 success rate, while allowing the Gaels 27 kills on a .132 clip.  Pepperdine also led at the service line with 11 aces to the opposition's one.  The home team had the marginal advantage in digs with 39 to 30 and both teams collected on eight blocks throughout the match.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        4          28        .357
2          15        6          37        .243
3          19        4          37        .405
TTL      48        14        102      .333
 
SAINT MARY'S ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          7          4          26        .115
2          11        7          31        .129
3          9          4          34        .147
TTL      27        15        91        .132
 
NOTABLES

• Pepperdine is on a 13-match winning streak, which is the tied for the fourth-best streak in Pepperdine women's volleyball program history all-time.  It is the eighth time in program history, the Waves have accomplished the feat.
• Ten of the last 13 wins have been in straight sets, featuring five-straight from September 28 to October 12.
• Pepperdine has only lost three sets through West Coast Conference play so far, having started the conference slate 10-0.
• The team had a 17-set winning streak this season from September 23 to October 21 and has currently won the last eight sets played in row. 
• The last time Pepperdine 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 4,677 assists.  The program record is held by Becca Roehl with 5,020 assists from 1994-97.

HIGHLIGHTS


PLAY-BY-PLAY
A pair of attack errors from across the net, featuring an early block from Vanessa Polk and Emily Hellmuth, and a smash from Polk earned the Waves a 3-0 start to the match.  The opposition countered to tie the score at 3-apiece, but another run for Pepperdine with kills from Emily Hellmuth and Meg Brown and an ace from Laine Briggs pushed the squad forward again 8-4.  Two-consecutive Birdie Hendrickson aces, followed by kills from Grace Chillingworth and another ace from Riley Patterson put the team ahead by 10-points, 21-11.  Late in the set, freshman Brynne McGhie entered to serve and put down a pair of aces to earn the first set point opportunity of the match.  In the final play, Chillingworth, Brown and Emma Ammerman combined for a Malibu Roofing Company rejection and Pepperdine took the set 25-14.
 
The second set started in virtually the same manner with a pair of kills from Polk and Chillingworth, a third ace from Hendrickson and a block connection from Hellmuth and Polk for a 4-0 lead.  There the similarities would end, however, as the Gaels connected for a seven-point run to pull ahead by three.  Kills from Chillingworth and Hendrickson tied the set again at 11's.  Though SMC pulled ahead by four at the 17-13 mark, kills from Chillingworth and Hellmuth tied the score at 17-apiece.  A Hellmuth, Brown block started the Waves forward and attack errors from across the net, followed by a Brown smash put Pepperdine ahead 21-17.  The Waves' attack force was not done with the set either, as more kills from Chillingworth would put the squad at a set-point opportunity at the 24-20 mark.  An ace from Chillingworth closed the set, 25-20.
 
A block from Polk and Hellmuth opened the third set and kills from Polk, Chillingworth and Hellmuth kept Pepperdine ahead, 5-4.  SMC countered, but another pair of kills from Isabel Zelaya and Polk started a Waves' run and a kill from Polk had the home team ahead by four, 11-7.  The momentum would favor Pepperdine to end the match and another ace from Chillingworth and smashes from Brown propelled the squad to a five-point advantage at 17-12.  Polk and Chillingworth connected on a block late in the set and four-consecutive kills from the Waves, with a pair of Hellmuth and one-apiece from Chillingworth and Brown, would close things out 25-17.
 
NEXT UP
Next week, the Waves remain in Malibu to host Gonzaga and Portland on November 2 and 4.

BIRDIE HENDRICKSON INTERVIEW
 

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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