MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team fell in five to UC Santa Barbara in the season's home opener at Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night.  Though the Waves had an early lead with 25-21 and 25-19 set wins to open the match, the Gauchos finished strong with 25-22, 25-16 and 15-13 set wins to defeat the Waves.
 
Junior Grace Chillingworth had a solid night on the right side, tying her career-best in kills with 22 on a .297 clip.  She also picked up her first double-double of the season and the 11^th of her career after adding 10 digs.  Senior Birdie Hendrickson held her own as well for the Waves, posting her first double-double with the squad on an impressive 13 kills and 15 digs, while adding three aces.  Riley Patterson finished up in the back row with a season-best 18 digs, while tying the team-high at the service line with three aces.
 
The Waves (0-3) are not done for the week though, as the team will head down to San Diego for the San Diego State Invitational.  Pepperdine will face the tournament-host Friday at 6:30 p.m. and #6 Oregon Saturday at 1 p.m.  Neither match will be streamed, but live stats will be available with links found on www.PepperdineWaves.com.
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 22 kills, .297 hitting %, 10 digs
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 13 kills, 15 digs, 3 aces
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 49 assists, 8 digs, 3 blocks
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 18 digs, 3 aces
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 6 blocks (2 solos), 5 kills
Kenadie Patterson (Oakdale, Calif./Gregori HS): 9 kills, .353 hitting %
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 7 kills
Trinity Stanger (Los Angeles, Calif./Viewpoint HS): 6 digs
 
WAVES VS. GAUCHOS
Pepperdine had the edge in the first two sets, out-hitting the Gauchos with 16 (.227) and 15 (.394) kills respectively, compared to eight (.129) and 12 (.162) from across the net.  Though by the end of the night, UCSB would have the slight edge with 60 kills on a .231 success rate, as opposed to Pepperdine's 58 on a .225 clip.  The Waves did have a slight lead, with six aces to five, but the Gauchos led 78 to 68 in digs and 10.0 to 8.0 in blocks throughout the night to secure the win.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        6          44        .227
2          15        2          33        .394
3          12        3          47        .191
4          8          6          30        .067
5          7          2          19        .263
TTL      58        19        173      .225
 
UCSB ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          8          4          31        .129
2          12        6          37        .162
3          19        4          46        .326
4          12        5          32        .219
5          9          2          23        .304
TTL      60        21        169      .231
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set highlighted by a kill from Kenadie Patterson and an ace by Birdie Hendrickson. The Gauchos battled back to trim the Waves lead down to 6-4. However, Pepperdine went on another scoring run with back-to-back kills by Hendrickson and Grace Chillingworth to take a 9-4 advantage.  After a tightly contested middle of the set, the Waves and Gauchos were knotted up at 16-all.  The Waves pulled away and won the first set 25-21 thanks to another ace from Hendrickson to gain early momentum.
 
The Waves and Gauchos traded blows to open the second set where Pepperdine took an early 6-4 lead courtesy of another smash from Hendrickson. Both teams continued to battle, but the Waves took a 12-9 advantage after a kill by Emily Hellmuth and an ace from Riley Patterson. Pepperdine continued their success in the second set taking a 17-12 lead after a three-point scoring run highlighted by a kill from Isabel Zelaya. The Waves kept themselves distanced from the Gauchos and took a 2-0 set advantage after they won the second set 25-19.
 
UCSB jumped out to an early lead in the third set taking a 7-2 advantage. The Waves and Gauchos continued to trade points, which led to a 15-6 lead for UCSB. Pepperdine battled back after three-straight kills from Chillingworth to trim UCSB's lead down to 16-11. The Waves continued to fight and eventually cut UCSB's lead to three, 22-19. However, the Gauchos held on to win the third set 25-22. 
 
Pepperdine jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the fourth set thanks to an ace by Hendrickson and a smash by Chillingworth. The Gauchos battled back and tied the set up at 9-all. UCSB went on another scoring run and took a 15-10 advantage.  Pepperdine and UCSB then traded points en route to a five-point deficit, 18-13.  The Gauchos kept their foot on the gas pedal and tied the match up to send it to a fifth and final set after they took the fourth set 25-16.
 
After some more kills by Chillingworth and Hendrickson, the Waves and Gauchos were tied at 7-all in the fifth and final decisive set. The teams continued to match each other with points leading to a 10-all tie. The Gauchos went on a three-point scoring run and used the momentum to reach the first match-point opportunity at 14-11. Back-to-back points for the Waves, highlighted by an ace from R. Patterson brought the team within one, but a kill from the Gauchos ended the match. 
 
FOLLOW
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