SAN FRANCISCO — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team rallied late and found ways to win in a come-from-behind, 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-6) victory over the San Francisco Dons on Thursday.

In what has become a pattern for the Waves (10-8, 7-1 West Coast Conference), a veteran pin hitter rose to the occasion to help Pepperdine emerge victorious. Tonight's heroine was senior outside hitter Grace Chillingworth, who led all players with 20 kills — nine of which came in the latter two sets. Late in the fourth set, the reigning WCC Player of the Year was responsible for six of the Waves' final eight points to help push the match to a fifth set against the Dons (12-8, 5-3 WCC).

Chillingworth's 20-kill, 12-dig double-double led the Waves, which had three players finish with double-figure kills. Reigning WCC Offensive Player of the Week Birdie Hendrickson chipped in an 18-kill, 16-dig double-double of her own, while freshman Ella Piskorz added 11 kills, eight digs and three service aces — the latter two marks were career-bests. Setter Rosemary Archer was one assist shy of her career-high with 48, plus she added 13 digs and a career-high four service aces as the Waves dished out 12 aces to the Dons' five.

In the first set, the Dons bolted out to a 4-0 lead. Trailing 10-5, the Waves clawed back into the match with a 5-0 run sparked by Hendrickson's first kill of the night. The Waves sided out, then Piskorz served up a pair of service aces as Pepperdine eventually tied the score at 10-all off a pair of San Francisco errors. Pepperdine eventually took a 12-11 lead, then back-to-back aces from Hendrickson gave the Waves a 15-12 advantage. Kills from Piskorz and Kenadie Patterson then helped Pepperdine take a five-point lead — the team's largest of the night at that point. A pair of kills from Chillingworth late in the set helped fend off the Dons as the Waves won the first set 25-20.

With 12 ties and eight lead changes, the second set was the closest of the night. Neither team led by more than three points until Pepperdine went on a 5-0 run late in the set to take a 21-18 lead. The Waves sided out of a Dons error, and then Archer's ace kicked off a run that saw the Pepperdine block shine with rejections from Patterson and Riley Simpson that forced the Dons to call timeout. After a solo block from Patterson gave Pepperdine a 23-21 lead, San Francisco rattled off the next four points to steal the second set 25-23.

Keeping momentum going from the second set, San Francisco's offense posted a .429 hitting percentage to take the third set in a 25-18 rout. A 5-0 USF run put the Dons up 10-6 and Pepperdine played catch-up from that point forward. Despite pulling within two points on three occasions late in the proceedings, the Dons closed the set on a 7-2 run to win the set 25-18.

Playing with their backs against the wall, the Waves played the Dons close throughout a back-and-forth fourth set. San Francisco gained some separation and took a 16-12 lead, but both teams traded service errors and sided out as the set's outcome hung in the balance. Chloe Pravednikov's kill helped the Waves side out at 18-16, then Patterson and Chillingworth teamed up for a block to pull within a point, yet the Dons sided out again to keep Pepperdine at bay.

But Chillingworth had other ideas. Back-to-back kills from the Pepperdine senior tied the score at 19, then a solo block on the left side from Chillingworth brought the Waves back into the match. Freshmen Piskorz and Pravednikov teamed up for a block to give Pepperdine a 21-19 lead, which forced the Dons to regroup. Although USF tied the score at 21-all, three Chillingworth kills and a solo block from Piskorz helped Pepperdine win 25-21 and force a deciding fifth set.

The fifth set was all Pepperdine. Taking an early 4-0 lead with kills from Hendrickson, Chillingworth and Piskorz, the Waves never trailed in the final frame. Back-to-back aces from Archer made Pepperdine's lead balloon to eight at 11-3, and the outcome was never in doubt from that point forward. A Hendrickson ace brought about match point, yet the Dons managed to stave off two match points before Chillingworth's 20th kill put an exclamation point on the Waves' 15-6 fifth-set victory. 

With the win, the Waves have a 3-2 record in five-set matches this season. Pepperdine's 7-1 record remains tied atop the WCC standings with LMU, which swept Portland on Thursday night. The Waves have won 10 matches in a row at The Sobrato Center, and have won nine of their last 10 contests against the Dons.

 

NEXT UP

Pepperdine's road swing concludes at Santa Clara on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. 

 

FOLLOW

Follow the Waves on Facebook and X, @WavesVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @peppvolley. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.