SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team fell 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 16-25, 24-26) to West Coast Conference rival San Diego in the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
The Toreros (14-8, 9-3 WCC) exacted revenge on the Waves (12-10, 9-3 WCC) from last year's WCC title-clinching match with the result. Pepperdine and USD are tied for second in the conference standings behind LMU, which has a two-game lead over the field.
Grace Chillingworth led the Waves in a valiant effort by tallying 18 kills, seven digs, 2.5 total blocks — including two solo rejections — and two aces. Birdie Hendrickson matched her fellow pin hitter with 18 kills, plus she led the team with 19 digs for her tenth double-double of the year. Rosemary Archer and Brynne McGhie split playmaking duties with 23 and 20 assists, respectively, while also chipping in two kills apiece.
The first set saw San Diego lead by as many as seven points. Although Ella Piskorz's ace cut the deficit to two at 18-16, the Toreros eventually took a 23-17 lead and appeared to cruise to a first-set win. However, the Waves went on a 7-0 run to swing back in front thanks to two kills from Hendrickson and Kenadie Patterson, then Pepperdine tied the score at 23 with a setter's dump from McGhie. A USD error brought about set point for Pepperdine, yet the Toreros went on a 3-0 run to steal the set 26-24.
Pepperdine bounced back in the second set. McGhie's second kill of the night sparked a 3-0 run that put the Waves up 10-7. From that point forward, the Waves never trailed thanks to six kills in the second set from Chillingworth and five from Hendrickson as the Pepperdine senior pin hitters countered every San Diego run. Hendrickson's final kill of the frame gave the Waves a 22-18 lead, a swing from Piskorz brought about set point, and then a USD error helped the Waves even the score with a 25-21 win.
In a sign of things to come, San Diego went on a 5-0 run early in the third set to take an 8-3 lead over the Waves. The third set wound up being a lopsided Toreros victory, as the hosts hit a match-best .294 in the frame while the Waves struggled to find any offensive rhythm in a 25-16 loss.
The Waves made one final push in the fourth set. Trailing 7-6, a kill from Piskorz sparked a 5-0 Pepperdine run bolstered by two points from Chillingworth. Pepperdine led by as many as six thanks to another kill from Hendrickson at 14-8, but a 5-0 Toreros run knotted the score at 15. Both teams see-sawed back and forth until Chillingworth's 18th kill of the afternoon brought about set point for the Waves. But just as they had done in the first set, the Toreros closed the set on a backbreaking 3-0 run to hand Pepperdine its second-straight loss.
San Diego's Isabel Clark led all players with 24 kills, while Haylee Stoner led all players with 5.5 blocks.
NEXT UP
Pepperdine will honor seniors Grace Chillingworth, Birdie Hendrickson and Trinity Stanger against the Santa Clara Broncos next Thursday at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for all remaining matches here.
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.
