PULLMAN, Wash. — After a hard-fought five-set battle in Bohler Gym, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team ended its season against #19-ranked and #5-seeded Dayton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
After a see-saw battle to open the match, Pepperdine took a 28-26 set win to gain the first advantage of the day.  Dayton – now on a 27-match winning streak – was able to rally late in the second set to win, 26-24, and tie the match.  The Waves regained composure, handily winning the third set 25-20, but the opposition came back to win the fourth set 25-14 and force a fifth.  The Flyers had the momentum early in the fifth set and it would be an advantage the Waves would be unable to overcome, eventually dropping 15-11 to end their season.
 
The Waves put up a valiant fight, having two earn double-doubles, two in the double-figure kill range and five with double-figure digs.  Grace Chillingworth led the Waves' attack force, blasting 19 kills and adding 15 digs to end with her sixth double-double of the season (16^th career).  It was also the 23^rd time this season, and the 57^th time throughout her three-year career, that she posted double-figure kills in a match.  Isabel Zelaya also added her seventh double-double of the season (32^nd career) with 47 assists and 10 digs.  She will end her career with an impressive 4,950 total assists, good for second in the Pepperdine women's volleyball program records all-time – just 70-shy of the program record. 
 
Along with Chillingworth, Meg Brown tallied 10 kills for the Waves, while also leading the pack with five blocks.  It was the 10^th time this season (46^th career) she had hit the double-figure kill mark.  In addition to Chillingworth and Zelaya, Riley Patterson, Birdie Hendrickson and Laine Briggs amassed double-digit digs.  Patterson led with a solid 18 digs, marking her 21^st match of the season (47^th career) having achieved the feat.  Hendrickson posted 14 digs for her ninth career match with double-figure digs, while Briggs marked 13 for her fifth. 
 
Pepperdine ended the 2023 season 19-9 overall and the Waves went 15-1 in league action to have won the West Coast Conference Championship for the 12^th time in program history and the first time since 2011.
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 19 kills, 3 aces, 15 digs
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 9 kills, 14 digs, 3 aces, 1 block
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 47 assists, 10 digs, 3 blocks
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 10 kills, 5 blocks, 4 digs, 3 assists
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 18 digs
Laine Briggs (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS): 13 digs, 2 aces
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 8 kills
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 6 kills, 1 block
 
WAVES VS. FLYERS
Each team's stats were virtually the same through half of the fourth set and there were 35 tied scores and 19 lead changes through that period.  In total, both teams ended with 76 digs and 10 aces apiece.  Dayton had a slight edge at the net, with 7.0 blocks to Pepperdine's 6.0.  The Flyers also led on the attack front, with 66 kills on a .246 percentage, while the Waves posted 54 kills on a .186 clip.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        5          37        .270
2          11        7          42        .095
3          12        3          31        .290
4          9          4          38        .132
5          7          4          19        .158
TTL      54        23        167      .186
 
DAYTON ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        7          42        .167
2          13        5          37        .216
3          14        6          45        .178
4          16        3          37        .351
5          9          1          18        .444
TTL      66        22        179      .246
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
It was a see-saw battle to start the match, with both teams working to an even 10-10 split before an ace from Birdie Hendrickson and a pair of kills from Grace Chillingworth helped the Waves to a 15-12 lead.  Pepperdine used the momentum to build a five-point lead at the 20-15 mark, courtesy of a Meg Brown, Hendrickson block collaboration along with kills from Chillingworth and Brown.  The squad was able to reach the first set-point opportunity, 24-20, with a kill from Vanessa Polk and another ace from Hendrickson, but the Flyers battled back to tie the set at 24-apiece.  The opposition then pulled ahead to earn their first set point option, but the Waves were able to fight them off and pull ahead 26-25 with a kill from Chillingworth.  Dayton fended off once more, but a pair of errors from across the net in the following two points proved costly and the Waves took the first real advantage of the day, 28-26.
 
The second set would be just as tight throughout, though the Waves gained a five-point advantage at the 14-9 mark with multiple kills from Chillingworth and Hendrickson and an ace from Brown.  After leading 17-14, however, Dayton would start to rally and eventually tied the set with a 3-0 run.  The two teams then went point-for-point en route to a 23-23 even split, but the Flyers would seem to have the edge and pulled ahead by one.  The Waves fought off a set-point to tie the score at 24's, but the Flyers collected the next two points to win the set 26-24 and tie things up.
 
Kills from Hendrickson and Chillingworth, along with an ace from Laine Briggs, opened the third set.  Though the Flyers were able to counter and take an 8-7 lead at one point, it would be the last advantage the opposition would see throughout the set.  A few attack errors from across the net got the Waves' momentum started and a solid Polk, Emily Hellmuth block connection would set the tone for the rest of the set, 12-9.  The energy stayed on Pepperdine's side of the court, fueled by another ace from Briggs and multiple kills from Chillingworth and Hellmuth for a 16-12 lead. The Waves kept rolling with more kills from Chillingworth and Hendrickson and though the opposition came within two-points at the 22-20 mark, a smash from Hendrickson and a pair of Flyers' attack errors would end the set 25-20 in the Pepperdine's favor.
 
Dayton would prove to have the edge in the fourth set, however, and after an 11-11 tied score went on a 9-2 run to pull ahead.  Pepperdine would be unable to close the gap and the Flyers would win the set 25-14 to force a fifth.
 
In the fifth set, Dayton worked out to a 6-1 lead with a strong attack presence that the Waves could not seem to quell.  Though Chillingworth and Emma Ammerman picked up a few kills, the opposition reached the eight-point mark first, 8-3.  A late 3-0 scoring run with a kill from Hendrickson and an ace from Chillingworth helped Pepperdine start to close the gap, forcing a Dayton timeout at the 12-7 mark.  Chillingworth picked up another ace and then an out of system play ended with a powerful Isabel Zelaya smash to make it a three-point deficit, 12-9. Though the Waves kept close throughout the rest of the set, the Flyers were able to shut the set down 15-11 and win the match.
 
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.