MALIBU, Calif. — In a year defined by gutsy rallies, marathon sets and five-set matches, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team had one more comeback left in them.
After trailing by three points in the third set, the Waves capped off the regular season with a 3-2 (21-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-8, 15-12) reverse sweep over Oregon State on Saturday afternoon.
All three of Pepperdine's seniors — Grace Chillingworth, Birdie Hendrickson and Trinity Stanger — showed out in their last match in Firestone Fieldhouse. Hendrickson led the way with a 20-kill, 14-dig double-double — her 13th of the season. In yet another match that saw Pepperdine's veteran pin hitters carry the bulk of the offensive load, Chillingworth chipped in 17 kills, eight digs, three assists and a service ace. Stanger led all players with 17 digs, five assists and a service ace, while also recording her second kill of the season.
Yet Saturday's win couldn't have happened without the emergence of freshmen Ella Piskorz and Chloe Pravednikov, and the efforts of juniors Rosemary Archer and Kenadie Patterson. Piskorz had a dozen kills and a match-high seven total blocks (including two solos), while Pravednikov chipped in nine kills and five blocks. Patterson's six total blocks and five kills helped bolster Pepperdine's block, which limited Oregon State to hitting just .141 on the match. And, completing her first season as Pepperdine's primary setter, Archer had a 46-assist, 11-dig double-double with two kills that caught the Beavers off guard.
Fittingly, each senior was instrumental in Pepperdine's reverse sweep. Hendrickson and Chillingworth combined for nine of the team's 18 kills in the third set, while the former had three kills down the stretch to help the Waves extend the match. Trailing 18-17 in the third set, Piskorz tied the match with her second kill of the frame, then Chillingworth found Hendrickson to help Pepperdine hold serve. All of this amounted to a decisive 4-0 run that put the Waves up 21-18, which gave Pepperdine enough breathing room down the stretch as a setter's dump from Archer and a Hendrickson kill on set point gave the Waves a 25-22 third-set win.
That third set turned the tide for Pepperdine. After playing from behind for the entirety of the first set and then watching a five-point lead slip away in the second set, the third set was an exorcism, of sorts, for the Waves. Pepperdine started off with a 5-1 run, then with Chillingworth back behind the service line, the Waves went on a 5-0 run that put the Beavers in the rear-view mirror for good. Oregon State hit -.161 while the Waves hit a match-best .409 in the fourth set with all six players in the rotation recording kills. With Stanger back to serve, Pepperdine had its largest lead of the afternoon at 24-7 before Piskorz's third kill of the set capped off the lopsided 25-8 victory two points later.
Oregon State had several chances to quash Pepperdine's comeback in the fifth set after winning two long rallies to go up 4-3. Fortunately for Pepperdine, several service errors from the Beavers halted any momentum Oregon State could muster. With the score tied at five, another kill from Piskorz sparked a decisive 3-0 run that Emma McMahon finished with an ace, giving Pepperdine the lead for good. The Beavers pulled within two points twice and saved two match points, yet Archer found Piskorz for the final kill of the afternoon to cap off the 15-12 fifth-set win.
With the result, Pepperdine wrapped up the season with a 17-11 record, including a 14-4 mark in league play. Oregon State, meanwhile, fell to 10-18 with an 8-10 mark in conference play in its inaugural WCC season.
The win was also the Waves' 17th of the season and ensured an eighth-consecutive winning season under head coach Scott Wong, who notched his 180th head coaching victory on Saturday. Pepperdine finished third in the West Coast Conference standings and was ranked 46th in the NCAA's final RPI rankings going into this week, yet the team's postseason future is uncertain. For now, Pepperdine waits.
The NCAA Women's Volleyball Selection Show airs on ESPN tomorrow at 3 p.m. PT.
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