MALIBU, Calif. — It was a dominant night in Firestone Fieldhouse for the Pepperdine women's volleyball team, a team receiving votes in the latest AVCA coaches poll, as the Waves blasted 50 kills on a season-high .477 clip en route to a 25-11, 25-12, 25-12 West Coast Conference victory.
 
The Waves (15-6, 11-0) extended the current winning streak to 14-consecutive matches with the sweep over the Zags (3-19, 0-11), which is the fourth-best streak in program history all-time. 
 
This match marked the sixth time in the last 10 seasons that the Waves amassed higher than a .400 hitting percentage, including once earlier this season when Pepperdine hit a .432 against Portland.  Prior to that match, the highest collective success rate was tabbed in 2012 when the program produced a .494 output (46-6-81) against Gonzaga (Oct. 12), a feat that ranks fourth in the all-time record books.
 
Along with the team's powerful attack effort tonight, Pepperdine kept Gonzaga to only 14 kills on a .110 throughout the match, not letting the Bulldogs see more than five kills in any set.  The match lasted an hour and 10 minutes, the quickest of the season thus far.
 
Grace Chillingworth led the Waves with her 15^th-career double-double after putting up 12 kills on a .500 clip and 16 digs.  Birdie Hendrickson collected a career-high .700 hitting percentage throughout the match, after posting seven kills on 10 errorless swings.  Riley Patterson posted 16 digs for her 16^th double-figure kill effort of the season and the 42^nd of her career.
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 12 kills, .500 hitting %, 2 aces, 16 digs
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 7 kills, .700 hitting %, 5 digs, 1 block
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 16 digs, 5 assists, 1 ace
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 33 assists, 4 digs, 1 ace
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 7 kills, .583 hitting %, 2 aces
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 6 kills, .556 hitting %, 2 aces
Sterling Parker (Martinez, Calif./Alhambra HS/Colorado): 2 blocks, 3 kills
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 4 kills, .600 hitting %, 1 block
Avery Shimaitis (Sugar Land, Texas/George Ranch HS): 5 kills, .364 hitting %
 
HIGHLIGHTS

WAVES VS. ZAGS
Pepperdine dominated the floor both offensively and defensively.  Along with the vastly different hitting performances, the Waves led 48-25 in digs and 8-2 at the service line, while leading 3.0-1.0 in blocks as well.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          18        2          30        .533
2          17        2          28        .536
3          15        4          30        .367
TTL      50        8          88        .477
 
GONZAGA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          4          2          26        .077
2          5          2          23        .130
3          5          2          24        .125
TTL      14        6          73        .110
 
NOTABLES

• Pepperdine is on a 14-match winning streak, which is now the fourth-best winning streak Pepperdine women's volleyball program history all-time. 
• 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.  In addition to 2011, the Waves had 13-match winning streaks in 2008, 2001 and 1997.  The program has had a streak of 13 or more wins eight times throughout history.
• The program-best winning streak is 25-matches, which was achieved in 2003.  The second and third best streaks are held by the 2002 team that won 17-consecutive matches and the 1991 squad that won 15-straight.
• Eleven of the last 14 wins have been in straight sets, featuring five-straight from September 28 to October 12.
• The team had a 17-set winning streak this season from September 23 to October 21 and has currently won the last 11 sets played in row. 
• Pepperdine has only lost three sets through West Coast Conference play so far, having started the conference slate 10-0 overall and tabbing a 33-3 sets record.
• 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 4,710 assists.  The program record is held by Becca Roehl with 5,020 assists from 1994-97.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine was absolutely dominant to open the match, blasting an 8-1 run with multiple kills from Vanessa Polk, Grace Chillingworth and Isabel Zelaya throughout.  The Waves continued to pound down on the Zags, extending the lead to 13 at the 20-7 mark with more smashes from Birdie Hendrickson and Meg Brown and an ace from Chillingworth.  A block from Polk and Hendrickson, followed by a rejection from Emily Hellmuth and Sterling Parker, kept Pepperdine moving forward and ahead 24-9 with an option to close.  After the opposition collected another pair of points, the Waves capitalized on a service error to end the set 25-11.
 
The second set was marginally closer, though Pepperdine still had the edge after a pair of kills from Polk and Brown helped the cause, 6-4.  An ace from Chillingworth, followed by a pair of laser smashes by Avery Shimaitis for a 14-6 lead.  The action did not stop there either, as Hellmuth, Kenadie Patterson and Emma Ammerman found the floor to make it an 11-point spread, 20-9.  Though the opposition gathered a few more points, an ace from Ammerman and kills from Hendrickson and Chillingworth would close the set 25-12 in the Waves' favor.
 
Pepperdine came out with a 4-0 run to start the third set as well, featuring a pair of kills from Brown and Chillingworth and an ace from Riley Patterson.  The energy remained on the Waves' side of the court as well, and an ace from Brown, along with kills from Shimaitis and Ammerman would put the squad ahead by seven, 14-7.  The home team went on another five-point run to pull forward 21-11 towards the end of the set with kills from Parker, another ace from Brown and a block from Parker and K. Patterson.  After leading by 10, 22-12, Zelaya put up an ace and K. Patterson and Ammerman went back-to-back on a kill effort to put the set away 25-12 and win the match.  
 
NEXT UP
Saturday, the Waves will host Portland at noon in Firestone Fieldhouse.  The match will be streamed live on ESPN+. 
 
RILEY PATTERSON INTERVIEW

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