OMAHA, Neb. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team and Kansas, a pair of teams receiving votes in the AVCA coaches preseason poll, went head-to-head to open the Omaha Invite presented by Sarpy County Tourism at Baxter Arena on Friday afternoon. 
 
Though it was a see-saw battle in the first set, the Jayhawks (1-0) were able to secure a 27-25 win over the Waves (0-1) to gain momentum, and used it to take the next two sets 25-15, 25-23 for a three-set victory.
 
BIG WAVES
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 10 kills, .389 hitting %, 2 aces, 3 blocks, 4 digs
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 9 kills, 11 digs
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 31 assists, 4 blocks, 4 digs
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 14 digs
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 4 kills, 6 digs, 3 blocks
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 5 kills, 7 digs
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 3 blocks, 3 kills
Emma Ammerman (Parker, Colo./Chaparral HS): 5 kills, .556 hitting %
 
WAVES VS. JAYHAWKS
Pepperdine led at the net with 8.0 blocks to Kansas' 7.0, though the Jayhawks 53 kills on a .282 clip surpassed the Waves' 38 smashes on a .185 output.  The opposition also had the edge on the back line with a 71-52 dig ratio, while each team produced a pair of aces.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        7          50        .140
2          9          5          35        .114
3          15        2          45        .289
TTL      38        14        130      .185
 
KANSAS ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          17        7          48        .208
2          15        4          33        .333
3          21        5          50        .320
TTL      53        16        131      .282
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The two teams traded points to open the match, reaching a 6-6 tie early on before the Jayhawks expanded on a few opportunities to pull ahead by four.  After a 13-9 Kansas advantage, Pepperdine's Meg Brown and Birdie Hendrickson went back-to-back on the attack to pull within two, and another smash from Emily Hellmuth made it a one-point set.  The Jayhawks pulled away shortly after, reaching a 19-14 lead down the back stretch, though the Waves were not ready to fold.  A pair of blocks from Vanessa Polk, with either Hellmuth or Grace Chillingworth, helped the cause and kills from each Polk and Hellmuth tied the score at 19's.  Fans watched both sides exchange points, but a kill from Brown late in the action would give Pepperdine a set-point opportunity.  The Jayhawk countered, however, and eventually won the set 27-25 to gain early momentum.
 
The second set was more one-sided than the first as KU put down a strong attack presence to earn an 11-5 lead.  The opposition went on a 10-point run shortly after for a 20-8 advantage and it would be a gap the Waves would be unable to close as Kansas won the second set 25-15.
 
The third set was another offensive bout with both squad's firing off around the .300 mark.  A pair of smashes from Brown gave Pepperdine the first lead of the set, 3-1, but the Jayhawks answered and built a two-point lead of their own and then slowly climbed to a seven-point stretch at the 20-13 mark.  A block from Chillingworth and Kenadie Patterson flipped the script and back-to-back kills from Emma Ammerman made it a four-point set, 22-18.  A Brown, Isabel Zelaya block collaboration kept things going for the Waves, though the Jayhawks reached the first match-point opportunity at 24-21.  A kill from Hendrickson, followed by an ace from Brown, brought the team within one, but a kill from across the net ended the match 25-23.
 
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.