SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Coming off of setting a career high last Saturday, Pepperdine volleyball junior Irelynd Lorenzen was named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week by the conference Monday.
"Irelynd has done a nice job in growing in her ability to see the game," Head Coach Scott Wong said. "The results of her being a part of nine blocks in a three-set match are pretty telling!"
This is not only Lorenzen's first WCC weekly honor, but also the first weekly honor of her collegiate career. She joins fellow middle blocker Ella Piskorz as a Wave who has taken home WCC Defensive Player of the Week awards this year. With this honor, Pepperdine has three WCC weekly awards this season (freshman Tristen Raymond is the other).
Lorenzen had not only her best defensive performance as a Wave, but also in her entire career against Washington State last Saturday. The junior middle blocker tallied a career-high nine total blocks in the Waves' sweep of the Cougars. Furthermore, three of her blocks were solo efforts, which was her most in a single match as a Wave and one shy of her career-high. She also chipped in four kills and tied her career high with two assists.
Making an immediate impact in her first season as a Wave, Lorenzen ranks eighth in the WCC with 58 total blocks, and her 1.09 blocks per set rank 10th. Her three solo blocks moved her into a tie for seventh in the WCC with 11 solo blocks.
Lorenzen and the Waves head to the Pacific Northwest for two matches against Seattle and Portland this week, starting with a 6 p.m. tilt against the Redhawks on Thursday. All schedule updates can be found on the women's volleyball team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Pepperdine women's volleyball has reached 26 NCAA Tournaments since 1981 as one of the most successful collegiate programs on the West Coast. The 12-time WCC Champions Waves have consistently produced top talent with 21 All-American selections with honorees in six straight decades. With multiple Olympians going through the program, Kim Hill brought home the program's first gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games.
