MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team is back at it this week, trekking up north to take on Saint Mary's before returning home for a matchup against San Francisco.

MATCH #13 — Thursday (September 28) at UCU Pavilion in Moraga, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Saint Mary's at 7 p.m.

MATCH #12 — Saturday (September 30) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. San Francisco at 12 p.m.

UP NEXT — Next week, the Waves will head back out on the road to take on Gonzaga on October 5 and Portland on October 7.

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

ESPN+ — This week, both matches will stream live on ESPN+.  Throughout the season, all of Pepperdine's home matches will be available on ESPN+.  The West Coast Conference and ESPN have expanded their longstanding media rights relationship. In addition to showcasing more than 25 games on ESPN's linear networks, ESPN+ will serve as the new, exclusive digital home for more than 900 conference events each year. 

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE — Live stats for all matches will be available.  All links can be found on PepperdineWaves.com. 

TICKETS & SPECTATOR GUIDELINES — Tickets to all Pepperdine home women's volleyball matches in 2023 will be available via e-ticket only at www.tickets.pepperdinewaves.com.  Pepperdine faculty, staff and students must show Pepperdine ID card for entry — no ticket purchase is required.

Due to campus construction, nearby parking is limited and guests are advised to arrive early.  Each match costs $13 for adults, $8 for seniors (65+) and $5 for children and non-Pepperdine students. 

SQUAD GOALS — Pepperdine has gone 6-6 overall this season and started off West Coast Conference action going 2-0 last week.  After a slow start to the 2023 campaign with a 1-6 effort to open things up, the Waves have rallied hard the last few weeks and currently are working with a five-match winning streak.

As a team, Pepperdine produces 12.38 kills/set on a .229 clip, while adding 11.57 assists, 1.50 aces, 13.88 digs and 2.05 blocks per set.  The Waves have allowed opponents 13.36 kills/set on a .223 success rate, as well as 12.45 assists, 1.36 aces, 14.36 digs and 2.07 blocks per set so far this season. 

On the offensive, Grace Chillingworth, Birdie Hendrickson and Meg Brown lead the squad.  Chillingworth marked 3.43 kills/set on a .233 output, while adding 0.24 aces and 1.95 blocks per set.  Hendrickson has posted 2.87 kills, 0.31 aces and 2.67 digs per set, while Brown is good for 2.16 kills, 0.39 aces, 1.03 digs and 0.90 blocks per set.  Brown leads the team in both aces/set and ties the team-high with 0.90 blocks/set alongside Vanessa Polk.  Polk has posted 37 total blocks with six solos, while Brown has marked 28 blocks with three solo rejections.

Isabel Zelaya leads in playmaking duties, having amassed 402 total assists for 9.57 assists/set.  Riley Patterson leads the squad with 150 total digs, averaging 3.57 digs/set, while also boasting a team-best 13 aces so far this season.

LAST WEEK IN THE 'BU — Pepperdine opened up WCC action with a pair of wins last week in Malibu, first sweeping past Pacific before taking down PCH Cup rival LMU in four.  Against the Tigers, the Waves won with three-straight 25-23 set scores, posting 37 kills on a .241 clip, nine aces, 42 digs and 8.0 team blocks, as opposed to UOP's 51 kills on a .229 output with three aces, 54 digs and 3.0 blocks.  Riley Patterson and Birdie Hendrickson led with 14 and 10 digs respectively, while Patterson produced a career-high six aces.  Her big ace-mark tied for third in the Pepperdine record books for most in a single-match.  Grace Chillingworth led the offensive efforts with nine kills, while four others had six or more kills throughout the match, including Hendrickson with seven.  Vanessa Polk had a team-high four blocks and Isabel Zelaya led with 32 assists.

In the following match against the Lions, the teams split the first two sets with a 25-17 Pepperdine win to open and a 25-23 LMU win to tie it up.  The Waves then buckled down and collected the following two sets, 25-22 and 25-18.  Pepperdine finished the match with 57 kills on a .288 output, adding five aces, 58 digs and 12.0 blocks, while LMU was good for 49 kills on a .171 clip, with four aces, 53 digs and 7.5 blocks.  Three players hit for double-figures, led by Chillingworth with 15 smashes.  Emily Hellmuth and Hendrickson were good for 13 and 11 kills respectively as well, and each had two aces.  Laine Briggs had a team-high 11 digs, while Patterson was close behind with 10.  Zelaya once again led in playmaking duties with 26 assists, though freshman Brynne McGhie saw some time to collect 18 assists.  Both of the setters had three blocks as well.  Polk finished up with six blocks including one solo to lead the Waves at the net.

THE COMPETITION — SMC has gone 6-8 so far this season.  After going on a six-match winning streak to start things off, the Gaels have hit a cold patch with eight-consecutive losses, including sweeps against LMU and San Diego last week to start off WCC play.  Pepperdine leads Saint Mary's 56-16 all-time, dating back to 1987 when the Waves won in straight sets before going on a 14-match winning streak through 1993.  The longest Waves' winning streak came form 1994-2003 when the squad won 19-consecutive matches.  In recent years since 2019, Pepperdine has won seven-straight matches, including four by way of sweep. 

USF has gone 8-6, 2-0 to start the season this year, with notable wins against UC Irvine, CSUN and San Jose State.   The Dons are on a five-match winning streak as well, including a pair of wins over Gonzaga and Portland last week.  Pepperdine leads San Francisco 6808 all-time, dating back to 1985 when the squad won the first-ever matchup in a four-set brawl.  The team won 16-straight after that through 1992, though the longest winning streak was 29-consecutive matches from 1993-2007.  Pepperdine was on a 16-match winning streak from 2014-22, though USF took the final matchup of the season last year with a five-set win over the Waves in Malibu to break it. 

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 12 matches now sits at 4,397 assists.  That mark puts her third 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 and Kiah Fiers (2006-09) takes up the #2 spot with 4,410 assists.  Melissa Mehlhorn (2002-05) is now ranked fourth in the record books with 4,387 career assists.