MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team, a team receiving votes in the AVCA preseason coaches poll, will begin the 2023 campaign in Omaha, Nebraska this week with the Omaha Invite presented by Sarpy County Tourism.  The Waves will first face Kansas, another team receiving votes in the AVCA preseason poll, on Friday, before challenging Texas A&M on Saturday.
 
MATCH #1 — Friday (August 25) at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.: Pepperdine (RV) vs. Kansas (RV) at 1 p.m. PT | Tournament: Omaha Invite presented by Sarpy County Tourism | Watch: Mavs All-Access
 
MATCH #2 — Saturday (August 26) at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.: Pepperdine (RV) vs. Texas A&M at 1 p.m. PT | Tournament: Omaha Invite presented by Sarpy County Tourism | Watch: Mavs All-Access
 
UP NEXT — The Waves will host UC Santa Barbara for the home open in Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday, August 31.  Following the home contest in Malibu, the squad will hit the road for the San Diego Invitational, taking on tournament-host San Diego State and Oregon on September 1 and 2 respectively.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
 
COVERAGE — Pepperdine's matches will be streamed courtesy of the tournament host and available on Mavs All-Access at no cost.  All links can be found on PepperdineWaves.com. 
 
WCC PRESEASON HONORS — Four Waves earned All-WCC preseason honors with Meg Brown, Grace Chillingworth, Riley Patterson and Emily Hellmuth receiving recognition.  Pepperdine was projected to finish second in the league this season by the coaches, though the Waves charted two first place votes.  #16 San Diego topped the WCC preseason coaches poll, while LMU was in the third spot.  Pacific and Saint Mary's round out the top five, while Santa Clara, San Francisco, Gonzaga and Portland close out the poll.
 
POSITION BREAKDOWNS:
CANNONS — Emma Ammerman, Grace Chillingworth, Emily Hellmuth, Birdie Hendrickson, Avery Shimaitis
MALIBU ROOFING COMPANY — Meg Brown, Sterling Parker, Kenadie Patterson, Vanessa Polk
PLAYMAKERS — Rosemary Archer, Brynne McGhie, Isabel Zelaya
CAN YOU DIG IT? — Laine Briggs, Riley Patterson, Trinity Stanger
 
SQUAD GOALS — Pepperdine returns 10 players, with six starters including the libero back on this year's team.  The Waves also welcomed four newcomers, two transfers and two true freshmen. 
 
All-WCC first teamers senior Meg Brown and junior Grace Chillingworth, returning WCC Freshman of the Year Emily Hellmuth, All-WCC second team graduate student Riley Patterson and multi-year All-WCC performer Isabel Zelaya all returned in force.  Senior Emma Ammerman, junior Trinity Stanger and sophomores Vanessa Polk, Avery Shimaitis, Kenadie Patterson and Rosemary Archer all returned as well. 
 
Birdie Hendrickson, a transfer from Florida, joined the squad in the spring of 2023 and will continue her career with the Waves this season.  Colorado transfer Sterling Parker will also don the blue and orange and make an immediate impact.  Freshmen Brynne McGhie and Laine Briggs joined the ranks as well.
 
2022 RECAP — Last season, Pepperdine went 19-11 overall and 10-8 in the West Coast Conference to finish in fourth place.  The Waves posted 8-4, 7-6 and 4-1 records at home, on the road and on neutral courts respectively.  The squad earned the program's 26th berth in the NCAA Championships and it was the fourth tournament appearance in the last five years.  The team ended in the first round after a hard-fought battle to top-ranked Stanford.
 
As a team, Pepperdine averaged 13.35 kills/set on a .228 output, while adding 12.45 assists, 1.47 aces, 14.32 digs and 2.36 blocks per set.  The Waves allowed opponents 12.13 kills/set on a .194 output, along with 1.30 aces, 13.50 digs and 2.33 blocks per set.  Grace Chillingworth, Emily Hellmuth and Meg Brown led the squad's attacking efforts.  Chillingworth posted 2.86 kills/set, 2.26 digs/set and led the team with 0.36 aces/set.  Hellmuth had a solid freshman debut with 2.85 kills/set and Brown marked a team-best .365 hitting percentage after posting 2.81 kills/set, along with 0.92 blocks/set.  Vanessa Polk led the Waves with 1.19 blocks/set, including 20 solo rejections, while Isabel Zelaya led in playmaking duties with 10.03 assists and 2.04 digs per set.  Riley Patterson produced 4.06 digs/set to lead Pepperdine.
 
THE COMPETITION — Kansas is receiving votes in the AVCA preseason coaches poll this week.  The Waves and Jayhawks have faced once in history and Pepperdine took home the four-set victory in 2003 in Malibu.  This will be KU's first contest of the season, though the team did face South Dakota in an exhibition on August 19, winning in four sets.
 
Pepperdine has faced off with Texas A&M on nine occasions, with the Waves leading 5-4 all-time.  In recent years, A&M won a pair of matches in 2018 (3-0) and 2019 (3-1).  The two teams first met in 1977 when the Waves won in the first three meetings through 1981 by a 2-0 result on neutral courts.  The Aggies then took a pair of matches in 1981 and 1984, though the Waves would win the following two in four sets in 1986 and 1987.  A&M played one exhibition match so far this season, falling in four sets to #15 Baylor earlier this month.
 
MORE THAN AN ATHLETE — The Waves have made it a principal standard for multiple seasons to make mental health a priority among the team.  The white jerseys the team wears sport a green ribbon which denotes support of mental health awareness.  Throughout a majority of the games as well, many players will wear green hair ties and bracelets, and even paint their nails, all in support of the mental health awareness initiative and erasing the stigma.  The team also has two shirts that sport the phrases 'More Than an Athlete' and 'Be Kind to Your Mind.' 
 
A focus for the team is to live an honest and healthy lifestyle with each other.  At practice, the team will have at least one weekly meeting and check-in with the team and coaches where the floor is open.  From those check-ins, the team knows who needs to be lifted up throughout the week, who needs to be checked in on and the reasons as to why.  Pepperdine women's volleyball is continuing to attempt to erase the stigma surrounding mental health in athletes.
 
COMPETING WITH PURPOSE — The Pepperdine University Athletics Department is committed to Christian values, to the academic well-being of all our student-athletes and to competing for championships. The Competing with Purpose campaign highlights the commitment to our core values that we dedicate ourselves to daily.
 
SCOTT WONG — Pepperdine alum Scott Wong was named head coach in December 2014, becoming the fifth head coach in program history.  Entering his ninth season at the helm of the Waves, Wong has marked a 144-87 (.623) overall record and winning percentage for Pepperdine.  He helped the program to four NCAA Tournament berths in the last five years and finished with second-round appearances in 2018 and 2020 and first-round appearances in 2021 and 2022.  The 2018 appearance was the Waves' first since 2012.  He hit is 100-win milestone as the Waves downed #21 San Diego on the road in four sets in 2020.  He was also an assistant with the Waves' men's program from 2005-09 (and was part of the 2005 NCAA championship-winning team) before moving back to his home state of Hawaii and serving as associate coach with the Rainbow Wahine's women's squad for five seasons.  He was also Hawaii's sand volleyball head coach.  Wong was a three-time All-American with the Waves between 1998-01.
 
THE SIDELINES — Along with Head Coach Scott Wong, Pepperdine alumna Blossom Sato returned to Malibu to coach on the sidelines in 2022.  This season, the Waves also added assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Korrin Wild and graduate assistant coach Kayleigh Hames to the staff.  Sato graduated from Pepperdine in 2019 and had an All-WCC first team nod.  She had a stint as volunteer assistant for the Waves in 2019, while also tabbing two years as an assistant for Portland State.  Wild has spent the last nine years on the collegiate and club sidelines in various capacities, while also playing professionally for one of the top Division I club teams in France.  Most recently, she had served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Nevada, Reno and had been promoted to associate head coach prior to leaving to join the Waves.  Hames was a key asset for the Pepperdine women's volleyball program for the last four years, starting as an outside hitter, but also serving as a defensive specialist in her final two seasons.  She graduated from Pepperdine in 2023.
 
INDOOR VOLLEYBALL HISTORY — The Pepperdine women's volleyball program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power.  The Waves have advanced to postseason play 31 times in 48 seasons, including 17 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 25 seasons.  Pepperdine's best finishes in recent years came when the team made the regional final of the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and again in 2011.  12 players have earned AVCA or Volleyball Magazine All-American honors a combined 22 times, while six players have been dubbed the WCC Player of the Year nine total times.  Nina Matthies, who stepped down after the 2013 season, was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in December, 2015.
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports — one of just 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 26 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, five times (most recently in back-to-back years during the 2022-23 and 2021-22). Located in scenic Malibu, California, the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #55 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.