Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team, a team receiving votes in the AVCA coaches poll, extended its current winning streak to nine-consecutive matches with a dominant 25-9, 25-22, 25-14 sweep over Portland on Saturday at Chiles Center.
 
The Waves (10-6, 6-0 WCC) remained undefeated in West Coast Conference action with the win over the Pilots (6-11, 1-4 WCC).  It was also the team's 7^th sweep during the winning streak, four of which have happened in the last four opportunities.  The streak is Pepperdine's longest since 2011 when the Waves started WCC play off with 13-straight. 
 
Graduate setter Isabel Zelaya led the squad to an astounding .432 hitting percentage, pushing the Waves' offense to 36 kills with only four errors on 74 swings.  She pushed five Waves to four or more kills, including 10 on a .409 clip from junior Grace Chillingworth.
 
It's the highest collective success rate in a single match since 2012 when the team produced a .494 output (46-6-81) 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.
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 10 kills, .409 hitting %, 4 aces, 4 digs
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida):
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 30 assists, 3 digs, 1 block
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 6 kills, .667 hitting %1 block, 1 ace
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 4 blocks, 4 kills
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 12 digs, 1 ace
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 9 kills, .667 hitting %, 4 blocks, 1 ace
Kenadie Patterson (Oakdale, Calif./Gregori HS): 3 blocks
 
WAVES VS. PILOTS
Pepperdine commanded the match offensively, leading with 36 kills on a staggering .432 clip compared to the opposition's 30 kills on a .179 output.  The Waves also led 7-4 in aces.  On the defensive side, the squad also had the edge, amassing an 8.0-2.0 block and 33-27 dig ratio.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          11        0          19        .579
2          15        3          37        .324
3          10        1          18        .500
TTL      36        4          74        .432
 
PORTLAND ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          8          4          23        .174
2          15        3          34        .353
3          7          8          27        -.037
TTL      30        15        84        .179
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves took the reins early in the match, building to an 11-5 advantage with kills from Birdie Hendrickson, Emma Ammerman and Vanessa Polk, along with an ace from each Meg Brown and Grace Chillingworth.  After a block collaboration from Polk and Isabel Zelaya kept the squad moving forward, a pair of consecutive kills from each Chillingworth and Brown helped them to a 19-8 lead.  An ace from Ammerman, followed by a setting error from across the net pushed Pepperdine to 22-9.  A Portland attack error, a block from Hendrickson and Brown and another ace from Chillingworth closed the set on a 3-0 run.
 
The second set would prove to be marginally closer and the Pilots even took a slight lead at the 7-5 mark.  Back-to-back kills from Chillingworth and Hendrickson, along with a rejection from the latter and Polk flipped the script and put the Waves back ahead.  After a see-saw battle to the 14-14 mark, the opposition started to pull ahead again, leading by 21-19 toward the end of the set.  Brown laid down a kill and Chillingworth followed up with her third ace of the match to tie things up.  The two teams exchanged points again, but a pair of consecutive kills from Brown and Zelaya gave the Waves the 23-22 edge and a pair of Portland errors shut the set down 25-22 in favor of the Waves.
 
Pepperdine was not messing around in the third set, opening with a 9-0 run with four kills from Ammerman and a pair of blocks from Ammerman and Polk.  Portland was able to gather a few points throughout the set, but the Waves were relentless and a fourth ace from Chillingworth as well as a pair of blocks from Kenadie Patterson with either Sterling Parker or Ammerman helped the squad to a 23-9 advantage.  The Pilots strung a few more points together before the end of the set, but a final service error from across the net closed the set 25-14 and earned Pepperdine the sweep.   
 
NEXT UP
Pepperdine has one match on the docket next week and will host Santa Clara on Thursday, October 12 at 7 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
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.