MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team (9-7, 3-2 WCC) will take a road trip to the Pacific Northwest to face Seattle and Portland, starting with a Thursday night match against Seattle.

The Seattle match is scheduled for 6 p.m., while the Portland match is set to start at 1 p.m. All West Coast Conference matches will be livestreamed on ESPN+, which requires a subscription. Live stream and live stat links can be found on the women's volleyball team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
 

LAST TIME OUT

• After taking a week off from competition, Pepperdine showed no signs of rust in its 3-0 sweep of the Washington State Cougars on Saturday.

• The Waves dominated in all facets of the game, especially up front, where the Waves had 17 total blocks to Washington State's five. 

• Junior middle blocker Irelynd Lorenzen set a new career high with nine total blocks — including three solo blocks — in the sweep, which gave her WCC Defensive Player of the Week honors. She was the first Wave to notch at least nine blocks in a three-set match since Tarah Wylie had 11 in 2019. Lorenzen also chipped in four kills and tied her career high with two assists.

• Freshman setter Tristen Raymond set a career high with 31 assists to go along with eight digs, three blocks, two kills and two aces.

AWESOME ARIZONANS

• Stepping into a bigger role as a sophomore, Chandler, Ariz. native Maggie Beauer is second on the team with 147 total kills and leads the team averaging 2.88 per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in eight matches.

• Peoria, Ariz. native Tristen Raymond has given the Waves a spark as a do-it-all setter who helps Pepperdine run an effective 6-2 offense. Raymond ranks in Pepperdine's top five in nearly every statistical category: The lefty leads Pepperdine with 5.41 assists per set, is second in service aces per set (0.40), third in blocks per set (0.71) and second in digs per set (2.29). Earlier against Sacramento State, she was the first Wave to record five service aces in a match since Grace Chillingworth did so in 2023.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP

• Sophomore outside hitter Chloe Pravednikov leads the team with 166 kills, which is No. 13 in the WCC. Her 2.86 kills per set rank second on the team.

• A WCC All-Freshman Team selection last year, Pravednikov is picking up where she left off late last season, in which she emerged as Pepperdine's consistent third option on offense. Earlier this season, Pravednikov tied her career high with 19 kills against Sacramento State — one of a team-high 11 games with 10 kills or more.

IT TAKES TWO

• Needing to replace a starting setter from last year, setters Brynne McGhie and Tristen Raymond have stepped in to give the Waves an effective 6-2 offense. Both McGhie and Raymond rank in the WCC's top 20 in assists per set (Raymond is No. 11 with 5.41 per set, while McGhie is No. 17 with 4.24 per set).

• McGhie and Raymond have had at least 10 assists apiece in all but four matches this season.

O CANADA

• Sophomore middle blocker Ella Piskorz is picking up where she left off last season as one of the best young middle blockers in the nation. She ranks No. 76 in the NCAA with 74 total blocks and No. 54 with 1.28 blocks per set.

• She leads the WCC with 74 total blocks, 1.28 blocks per set and 65 block assists.

STAY IN YOUR LAINE

• Junior libero Laine Briggs is one of the best servers in the country, as her 25 total aces rank No. 112 in all of Division I and first in the WCC. Her 0.43 aces per set is second in the WCC and ranks No. 67 in Division I.

• She tied her career-high with four aces against Jacksonville, which is her ninth match with multiple aces this year.

• Briggs also leads the team and ranks eighth in the WCC with 3.36 digs per set.

GOING BACK TO CALI

• San Diego native Irelynd Lorenzen has been a key piece for Pepperdine's block during her first year of playing collegiate volleyball in her home state. The Lafayette transfer is second on the team with 0.98 blocks per set, which ranks 10th in the WCC.

• Lorenzen is also tied for eighth in the WCC with 41 block assists and 10th with 49 total blocks.
   

STRONG SERVING

• Pepperdine is No. 27 in the nation with 1.91 aces per set and No. 77 with 111 aces this year.

• Four Waves rank in the top 20 in the WCC in service aces per set: Laine Briggs (No 1., 0.45 per set), Tristen Raymond (No. 8, 0.38), Ryan Gilhooly (T-No. 16, 0.33) and Brynne McGhie (T-No. 16., 0.33)

• The team has had at least one player with multiple aces in every match this season. Multiple Waves have recorded multiple aces in 12 of the 16 matches this year.

COMEBACK KIDS

• On Oct. 2, Pepperdine trailed San Francisco 18-7 in the first set but came back to win 25-23, which was their biggest single-set comeback of the season. 

• This comeback was one of four comebacks of 11 points or more. Northeastern came back from a 13-point deficit, while DePaul and Wisconsin rallied back from 11-point deficits.

• So far this season, both of Pepperdine's five-set wins were reverse-sweeps.

SOLID SCHEDULING 

• At the end of non-conference play, Pepperdine's non-conference schedule ranked No. 35 in the nation in terms of opponents' combined win percentage.

• Pepperdine is the only WCC team to face two top-10 programs in non-conference play (No. 9 Pitt and No. 8 Arizona State).

SERIES HISTORY

• The Waves are a perfect 2-0 against Seattle.

• Pepperdine leads 69-6 in the all-time series against Portland. The Waves are on a 14-match win streak over the Pilots, dropping just four sets during that span.

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS

• The Seattle Redhawks are Pepperdine's first repeat opponent in WCC play. Earlier this year in Malibu, the Waves swept Seattle with ease. Since then, the Redhawks have dropped three matches and will look to snap an eight-match losing streak against the Waves.

• Outside hitter Madyn Cervellera ranks sixth in the WCC, averaging 3.38 kills per set.

• The Redhawks are one of the few teams that can claim to have more success behind the service line, as outside hitter Petra Fritz leads the WCC with 28 service aces, averaging 0.50 per set.

SCOUTING THE PILOTS

• Picked to finish 10th in the WCC poll, the Pilots won their first three matches of WCC play before getting swept by San Diego and LMU last week. They will try getting back in the win column this week with a pair of home matches.
• Redshirt sophomore setter Havannah Hoeft, who was a WCC Honorable Mention and All-Freshman team selection last year, ranks third in the conference with 480 assists and 8.57assists per set. 

SEASON OVERVIEW

• In Scott Wong's eleventh season at the helm, the Pepperdine Waves were picked second in the WCC Preseason Coaches' poll behind San Diego and ahead of LMU. The top three teams in the poll were the last three teams to win the WCC title.
• Pepperdine also put three players on the WCC Preseason Team: redshirt junior Vanessa Polk, sophomore Ella Piskorz and Bradley transfer Iva Popovic, who was one of three conference newcomers to make the team.
• Pepperdine has ten returners but brings back just one starter from last year: middle blocker Ella Piskorz. However, fellow middle blocker Vanessa Polk, who was a key piece on Pepperdine's 2023 WCC Championship squad, will return after redshirting in 2024. Sophomore opposite hitter Chloe Pravednikov, an All-WCC Freshman Team selection from a year ago, worked her way into the starting rotation late last season and will be expected to have a larger role this season. 

NEW WAVES

• The Waves also welcome six newcomers to the team, consisting of three transfers and three true freshmen. Junior middle blocker Irelynd Lorenzen and sophomore setter Nalani Muniz are both returning to their home state after competing for Lafayette and Southern Utah, respectively. Iva Popovic also comes to Malibu by way of Bradley University and New Mexico Junior College, where she was a two-time NJCAA All-American.
• Pepperdine's three freshmen are Ryan Gilhooly (Pacific Palisades, Calif.), Tristen Raymond (Peoria, Ariz.) and Alice Vigano (Lake Como, Italy).
• For the first time under Scott Wong, the Waves feature three international players on the roster: Ella Piskorz (Canada), Iva Popovic (Serbia) and Alice Vigano (Italy).

THE MOUNTAIN AT MULLIN PARK
The Mountain at Mullin Park will become the new home for Pepperdine's basketball and volleyball programs in 2026. The 3,600-seat arena will give Pepperdine a state-of-the-art competition venue, complete with a 360-degree high-definition scoreboard, VIP and hospitality spaces, and custom team locker rooms. The facility will improve the experience for student-athletes and provide fans with one of the premier indoor collegiate environments on the West Coast. Connected to the arena is a three-story, 45,000-square-foot student center that will house the University's RISE Institute along with a broad range of wellness and recreation amenities.

Construction reached a major milestone with the topping-out ceremony in May 2025, marking the completion of the arena's highest structural point. Following interior build-out and finishing, Pepperdine men's and women's basketball teams are expected to be the first teams to compete in the new arena beginning the 2026-27 season  

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.