MORAGA, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team extended its current winning streak to six-straight after sweeping past West Coast Conference opponent Saint Mary's at UCU Pavilion on Thursday night, collecting 25-23, 25-21 and 25-18 set wins in the process.
 
Pepperdine is now 7-6 overall and remains perfect at 3-0 in the league.  The Waves and San Diego are now the only two remaining undefeated programs in WCC play.  Five of Pepperdine's seven wins have been sweeps, including four in the last five matches.
 
Isabel Zelaya led the Waves in playmaking duties and collected her 28^th career double-double with 33 assists and 11 digs, while Riley Patterson posted a team-high 17 digs for her 36^th career match with double-digit digs. 
 
BIG WAVES
Birdie Hendrickson (Rogersville, Mo./Logan-Rogersville HS/Florida): 14 kills, 4 digs
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 33 assists, 11 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Grace Chillingworth (Tustin, Calif./Foothill HS): 9 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Emily Hellmuth (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park HS): 7 kills, 4 blocks, 2 digs, 1 ace
Vanessa Polk (Saint Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS): 5 blocks (2 solos), 6 kills, .462 hitting %
Riley Patterson (Sonora, Calif./Sonora HS/Pacific): 17 digs, 4 assists
Meg Brown (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS): 3 kills, 5 blocks, 4 digs, 1 ace
Laine Briggs (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS): 7 digs
 
WAVES VS. GAELS
Four players posted six or more kills to help the cause tonight, en route to 41 team kills on a .233 hitting percentage for the Waves.  The opposition put in 42 kills on a .183 clip.  Pepperdine also led 10.0 to 4.0 in blocks, though the margin was closer in digs with a 51-50 ration in favor of the Waves.  Each team collected four aces.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          18        6          42        .286
2          9          3          42        .143
3          14        4          36        .278
TTL      41        13        120      .233
 
SAINT MARY'S ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        4          38        .263
2          16        11        55        .091
3          12        4          33        .242
TTL      42        19        126      .183
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The two teams squared off in the first set, going point-for-point to start things off tied 7-7.  The Gaels went on a 5-0 run to pull ahead, but the Waves answered with a 5-0 run of their own with three-consecutive kills from Birdie Hendrickson and a pair from Vanessa Polk, 12-12.  Each side traded blows once again en route to a tie late in the action, 21-all.  A sneaky shot from Isabel Zelaya, followed by a kill from Hendrickson, put the squad in a position to close.  Though SMC came within one, a final smash from Emily Hellmuth earned Pepperdine the first set win.
 
With the momentum on their side of the court, the Waves came out in the second set on a 4-0 run courtesy of another pair of smashes from Hendrickson and Hellmuth and some errors from across the net.  Pepperdine would hold the lead throughout the set, though Saint Mary's came within one at the 12-11 mark.  A kill from Polk and a pair of block collaborations from Hellmuth with either Polk or Meg Brown and the Waves held a five-point 17-12 lead to force a SMC timeout.  Another block from Brown and Grace Chillingworth and a kill from Hellmuth extended the lead to seven, 20-13, and the team would ride that momentum towards a 25-21 set win.
 
With a strong confidence going into the third set, Pepperdine built a 10-4 lead after multiple kills from Hendrickson and an ace from Hellmuth helped the cause.  More kills from Polk and Chillingworth kept the Waves' momentum moving forward and the team was looking at a 19-10 lead down the home stretch.  Zelaya and Brown connected on a block to extend the Waves' advantage and though the opposition answered with a late run to close the gap to 22-17, a solo rejection from Polk got things back on track.  A final kill from Chillingworth earned the set victory, 25-18, and completed the sweep for the Waves.
 
NEXT UP
Pepperdine will return home on Saturday, September 30 for a matchup against San Francisco in Firestone Fieldhouse at noon.
 
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.