MALIBU, Calif. — Barely two days removed from playing the nation's second-ranked team in Stanford, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team was swept 3-0 (18-25, 8-25, 15-25) by the top-ranked Pitt Panthers on Friday night.
The No. 1 Panthers (5-0) out-hit Pepperdine by tallying 45 kills on a .305 success rate, compared to Pepperdine's 22 kills on a .038 clip. Pitt also dealt five service aces and had 57 digs to Pepperdine's 39. Two Panthers — Torrey Stafford and Olivia Babcock — led all players with 14 kills each.
On a night when Grace Chillingworth was honored for surpassing 1,000 career kills, the senior from Tustin, Calif. led Pepperdine on offense. She had six kills, five digs and a pair of blocks. Freshmen Ella Piskorz and Chloe Pravednikov chipped in five kills apiece, while Piskorz led the Waves up front with five total blocks.
The first set started auspiciously for the Waves, who took a 2-0 lead after Pitt's opening service error. Pepperdine hung with Pitt for the first half of the first set, aided by a balanced offensive attack and a pair of early kills from Piskorz — the second of which helped put Pepperdine within three points, trailing 12-9. But the Waves would only get within four points of the Panthers. A mini, 3-0 run bookended by two Pravednikov swings made the score 17-13, yet a service error halted the momentum Pepperdine had. Aided by miscues behind the service line, Pitt went on a late 5-0 run to make the score 23-14, however, the Waves eventually fought off three set points thanks to Pravednikov and Chillingworth before Pitt took the first set 25-18.
As they did in the first set, the Waves took an opening 2-0 lead in the second set before the Panthers got back in front. The Panthers went on a 6-0 run that forced a Pepperdine timeout before Maggie Beauer's kill out of the break snapped the Waves' scoreless streak. Save for another kill from Piskorz, the Panthers went on an 11-1 run — capped off by three service aces from Babcock — to pull away for good and win the second set 25-8.
Pepperdine mounted a comeback attempt in the third set, which was the closest of the night with nine ties and five lead changes. The Waves tied the score at five with a Pravednikov kill, yet the Pepperdine block kept the Waves in the mix with four blocks before the media timeout. Beauer and Piskorz teamed up for a block to help Pepperdine take an 11-10 lead, then the Waves tied the score at 12 with a block from Piskorz and Birdie Hendrickson. Unfortunately for Pepperdine, Pitt dealt an early knockout blow with an 8-1 run before completing the sweep with a 25-15, third-set win.
NEXT UP
Pepperdine continues the Asics Classic with a match against Omaha tomorrow at 5 p.m. Season tickets are now available for all fall sports, including women's volleyball. Additionally, Pepperdine is offering a Fall All-Sport Pass, which grants admission to all fall home sports including women's soccer, women's volleyball and men's water polo — a $525 retail value for just $150. Learn more and access those exclusive season ticket offers here: gowav.es/peppszntix2425.
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.
