MALIBU, Calif. — There's another road week on the docket for the Pepperdine women's volleyball team ahead, as the Waves head to San Luis Obispo for the Mustang Invitational.

MATCH #9 — Friday (September 15) at Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Washington at 3 p.m. | Mustang Invitational

MATCH #10 — Saturday (September 16) at Mott Athletics Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif.: Pepperdine at Cal Poly at 1:30 p.m. | Mustang Invitational

UP NEXT — After this final week of non-conference competition, the Waves will head into West Coast Conference action, welcoming Pacific and PCH Cup rival LMU to Malibu on September 21 and 23.

SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.

COVERAGE — Live stats for all matches will be available.  No stream will be provided.  All links can be found on PepperdineWaves.com. 

SQUAD GOALS — The Waves have had a challenging schedule since the beginning of the season, compiling a 2-6 record with a pair of wins over San Diego State and Liberty.

As a team, the Waves averaged 11.48 kills/set on a .205 clip, with 10.72 assists, 1.48 aces, 12.21 digs and 1.86 blocks per set.  They have allowed opponents 13.69 kills/set on a .250 success rate, with 12.76 assists, 1.48 aces, 14.48 digs and 2.14 blocks per set.

Grace Chillingworth leads the Waves offensively, having amassed 3.38 kills/set on a .234, while adding 0.28 aces/set.  Birdie Hendrickson has also played an impact on the pin, producing 2.77 kills/set, 2.73 digs and adding 0.31 aces/set to the effort.  Meg Brown remains an all-around threat for the team, putting in 1.89 kills, 0.50 aces, 1.00 digs and 0.83 blocks per set.  Isabel Zelaya has been leading in playmaking duties, averaging 9.24 assists/set.

On the defensive end along with Brown, Vanessa Polk and Kenadie Patterson have marked 0.75 and 0.60 blocks per set respectively.  Riley Patterson leads in the back row, producing 3.52 digs/set.

LAST WEEK ON THE ISLAND — The Waves went 1-2 at the OUTRIGGER Volleyball Challenge in Honolulu last week, defeating Liberty and falling in tightly contested matches to UCLA and #23 Hawai'i.  In the opener against the Bruins, the Waves rallied back from a 25-20 first set loss to win the next two sets 25-21.  The opposition countered in the fourth with another 25-21 win to force a fifth and though both teams went head-to-head, UCLA eventually won 15-10.  Grace Chillingworth and Meg Brown hit for double-figures with 17 and 10 kills respectively, while Riley Patterson, Isabel Zelaya and Laine Briggs held down the back row with 15, 13 and 12 digs respectively.  Emily Hellmuth had a career-high six blocks, while Vanessa Polk produced five.  Zelaya also led with 42 assists and Brown posted three aces.

In the following match, Pepperdine went toe-to-toe with tournament-host Hawai'i, leading the first set 24-23, but eventually falling 27-25.  After that, the momentum shifted onto the Rainbow Wahine's side of the court and they won the following two sets 25-17, 25-21.  Birdie Hendrickson had a team-high 10 kills on a .391 clip, while adding a double-double effort with a team-best 14 digs.  Chillingworth and Emma Ammerman led the squad with two aces and Avery Shimaitis led the team with two blocks.  Zelaya once again produced a team-high 27 assists.

In the final match of the weekend, the Waves took care of business against Liberty after posting 25-22, 25-18, 24-26 and 25-12 final set scores.  Chillingworth and Hendrickson each posted double-doubles to lead the Waves.  Chillingworth marked 18 kills, 13 digs and four blocks, while Hendrickson was good for 14 kills on a .323 clip with 14 digs.  Zelaya produced 43 assists and nine digs and Brown led with seven blocks and three ace.

THE COMPETITION — Washington is currently receiving votes on the AVCA coaches poll and has gone 7-1 overall this season, losing only the first match of the season to UTEP.  Pepperdine holds a 5-3 record over UW all-time, dating back to 1979 when the teams first met and Pepperdine won 2-0 on a neutral court.  The Waves won the next three match as well through 1989, before the Huskies won the following three meetings in 1991, 2017 and 2021.  Last season on the road, the Waves won in four sets as well.

Cal Poly has gone 5-4 this season thus far, most recently going 1-2 last week with losses to New Hampshire and James Madison and a win over VCU.  The Mustangs have a 25-17 record against the Waves all-time, dating back to the 1975 season when the teams first met and the Waves won 2-1 at home.  From 1980 to 1989, Cal Poly won 21-straight matches, while the longest Pepperdine-streak was seven matches from 1990 to 1993.  In the last two meetings in 2021 and 2022, Pepperdine won both in five sets, one home and one on a neutral court.

4,000 ASSIST CLUB — Graduate student setter Isabel Zelaya entered the exclusive 4,000 assist club during the first week of the season.  She entered the 2023 campaign with 3,995 assists and after the five matches now sits at 4,262 assists.  That mark puts her at fourth in the Pepperdine women's volleyball record books, the fifth Wave all-time to have surpassed the 4,000-assist mark and the first since 2009.  Becci Roehl (1994-97) leads the category with 5,020 assists all-time.  Kiah Fiers (2006-09) and Melissa Mehlhorn (2002-05) take up the #2 and #3 spots in the record books with 4,410 and 4,387 record books respectively.