Box Score SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Five players with five or more kills fueled the Pepperdine women's volleyball team to a dominating sweep over Washington, a team receiving votes in the AVCA coaches poll this week, on Friday afternoon at Mott Athletics Center.
 
The Waves (3-6) kicked off the Mustang Invitational with the win over Washington (7-2), snapping the Huskies' seven-match winning streak. 
 
Birdie Hendrickson and Grace Chillingworth led the Waves with double-figure kills and were both one-dig away from double-doubles.  It was the seventh match of the season in double-figure smashes for Chillingworth and the fourth for Hendrickson.  Riley Patterson also led defensively with an impressive 20 digs, posting her ninth career match having achieved the feat since donning the blue and orange.
 
Pepperdine will close out the Mustang Invitational against the tournament-host Cal Poly at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
BIG WAVES
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 12 kills, .375 hitting %, 9 digs
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 13 kills, 9 digs
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 39 assists, 1 ace
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 9 kills, .316 hitting %, 5 blocks
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 6 kills, .455 hitting %, 4 blocks
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 20 digs
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 5 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks, 2 aces
 
WAVES VS. HUSKIES
Pepperdine dominated offensively throughout the entire match, beginning in the first set.  Though both teams amassed 15 kills, the Waves .375 success rate surpassed the Huskies' .205 for the advantage.  The squad used that momentum to post 15 or more kills in every set, leading with 46 kills on a .305 clip compared to the opposition's 32 kills on a .116 output.  The Waves also led defensively with 32 digs and seven blocks, as opposed to the Huskies 38 digs and six blocks.  The opposition's only edge came at the service line with five aces to three.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        3          32        .375
2          16        6          36        .278
3          15        5          37        .270
TTL      46        14        105      .305
 
WASHINGTON ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        7          39        .205
2          9          7          37        .054
3          8          5          36        .083
TTL      32        19        112      .116
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Huskies came out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but the Waves quickly answered with kills from Vanessa Polk and Grace Chillingworth.  A block collaboration from Meg Brown and Emily Hellmuth shortly after encouraged momentum on Pepperdine's side and after an even 10-10 split, back-to-back kills from Birdie Hendrickson and Hellmuth and a solo block from Polk put the squad up by two.  More smashes from Chillingworth and Hendrickson eventually had Pepperdine leading by four at the 20-16 mark.  The opposition came within two at 23-21, but the Waves capitalized on a pair of Washington errors to take the first set 25-21.
 
Pepperdine came into the second set on a 3-0 run courtesy of a block and kill combo from Polk and it would be a lead the team would not give up throughout the set.  Multiple smashes from Hendrickson and Chillingworth extended the Waves' advantage to six-points 15-9.  Though the opposition closed the gap to three with a run, another kill from Hendrickson and an ace from Brown got the Waves back on the right track.  Late in the set, another pair of smashes from Hendrickson and Chillingworth and a block from Polk and Hellmuth ended the set 25-17 and gave Pepperdine a 2-0 lead heading into the third set.
 
In the third set, UW started off with a four-point lead after working ahead 7-3.  Kills from Chillingworth and Hellmuth and another ace from Brown closed the gap, however, and another block from Brown and Hellmuth tied the set at 10's.  The two sides traded points en route to 17's before a solo block from Hendrickson set the tone for the rest of the set.  Along with Hendrickson's block, more rejections from Hellmuth and Polk, an ace from Zelaya and smashes from Chillingworth and Hellmuth helped Pepperdine to a five-point run and a 23-17 lead.  Washington would collect two more points, but a final smash from Polk would end the set and complete the sweep for the Waves.
 
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.