MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine women's volleyball has added transfers Irelynd Lorenzen and Iva Popovic to the 2025 roster.
Lorenzen is a rising junior middle blocker from Lafayette (Pa.) and Popovic is a rising senior outside hitter from Bradley University. Both players will be immediately eligible. The duo will join true freshman Tristen Raymond as newcomers to the roster in fall 2025.
Irelynd Lorenzen
Junior Middle Blocker
Lafayette University
San Diego, Calif. (Santa Fe Christian)
Making her return to Southern California after spending two seasons at Lafayette University, Lorenzen led the Leopards last season. As a sophomore, the 6-foot-1 middle blocker was the fifth-most-accurate hitter in the Patriot League, connecting on .299 of her swings. In conference play, Lorenzen had a .349 hitting percentage.
This past season, Lorenzen set single-match career highs in nearly every statistical category. In the season-opener, she set her career high with seven blocks against Le Moyne while chopping in a pair of service aces and three kills. Last year she had three games with multiple service aces, including a career-high three aces against Fordham. Later in the season, Lorenzen set her new career high with 13 kills in a road win at Holy Cross while adding three blocks.
She also had solid outings against Power-4 competition: Her four blocks tied the match-high in Lafayette's four-set win over Virginia Tech — the program's first-ever win over a Power-4 team — plus she had five kills at Syracuse.
Prior to college volleyball, the San Diego, Calif. native was a four-year starter at Santa Fe Christian, where she helped her team win the 2022 Division 1 CIF State title. As a senior, she made the ACVA Phenom Watch List and the All-American Watch List, plus she was a first-team all-league selection and a second-team All-CIF honoree.
In the classroom, Lorenzen made the dean's list three times and was a Patriot League Academic Honor Roll selection in 2023-24. She plans on earning her bachelor's of science in sports medicine at Pepperdine.
Iva Popovic
Senior Outside Hitter
Bradley University/New Mexico Junior College
Belgrade, Serbia
A 5-foot-11 outside hitter from Belgrade, Serbia, Popovic will be the first Serbian-born player in Pepperdine history. She comes to Malibu after leading Bradley with 429 kills and 46 service aces in her first year of Division I volleyball last year.
As a junior, Popovic earned Missouri Valley Conference First Team honors as Bradley's most effective offensive player. Her 3.61 kills per set ranked fifth in the conference and her 0.39 service aces per set ranked fourth. Her single-match bests at Bradley include 25 kills (9/27 vs. Belmont), 23 digs (10/14 vs. Illinois State), four total blocks (three times) and four service aces (twice). A do-it-all player for the Braves, Popovic tallied 19 double-doubles and had the second-most digs on the team despite being a back-row attacker.
Popovic began her career at New Mexico Junior College from 2022-23, where she was the program's first player to earn NJCAA First Team All-American honors. Popovic made an immediate impact as a true freshman in 2022. She ranked in the top five nationally with 4.53 kills per set (3rd), 535 total kills (4th) and 594 points (5th). She recorded 19 double-doubles en route to becoming the Western Junior College Athletic Conference MVP. Then as a sophomore, she earned second-team All-American honors while leading the Thunderbirds to a program-best 30-8 record. In junior college, her single-match career highs were 21 kills, 24 digs and five total blocks.
She plans on earning her bachelor's degree in economics and wants to pursue a career in professional volleyball.
