MALIBU, Calif. — Fending off a pesky LMU Lions (5-14, 3-7 West Coast Conference) squad, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team (14-7, 8-2 West Coast Conference) earned a five-set win over its cross-town foes in a nationally televised home match Thursday night.
"We had some ups and downs, but we were continuing to get after it," Pepperdine head coach Scott Wong said. "I thought Brynne McGhie did a nice job of adding a little spark offensively and came out serving tough in the fifth set. We really didn't back off. It was a big turnaround for us in game five, and I like the chances we took."
It took a career-high 18 kills from sophomore outside hitter Maggie Beauer, 15 kills from Chloe Pravednikov and a spark from the junior setter McGhie as the Waves went to the 6-2 in the fourth set to beat the Lions. Middle blockers Ella Piskorz and Vanessa Polk finished with six total blocks apiece, while both players contributed on offense with 14 and nine kills, respectively late in the match. In the back row, reigning West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week Laine Briggs led the Waves with 20 digs, while Charis Kai had a career-high four service aces.
At first, it looked like the Waves' first nationally televised match since 2019 would be a quick affair. Pepperdine went up two sets to none while trailing by no more than three points throughout the match. Pravednikov had nine kills in the first two sets alone, then the Waves pulled away in the second set with a 5-0 run capped off by back-to-back aces from Kai.
But after Pepperdine won the second set 25-19, the Lions got up off the mat with a strong start to the third set, taking a 7-4 lead and forcing the Waves to play from behind. In what was a defensive third set — neither team had a hitting percentage better than .100 in the frame — the Waves clawed back to tie the match on three occasions before a block from Polk and Irelynd Lorenzen put Pepperdine up 14-13. Yet both teams see-sawed back and forth, trading runs before Pepperdine went on a 6-1 run powered by Beauer and Pravednikov to go up 23-22. With the end of the match sight, LMU won the next three points to steal the third set 25-23.
Momentum favored the Lions after they won the third set, and Pepperdine once again had to dig out of a hole midway through the fourth set. Pepperdine sided out trailing 14-13, sending Ryan Gilhooly back to serve during a stretch where Tristen Raymond and Piskorz provided a key block, then Beauer had three-straight kills to give the Waves an 18-15 advantage. Once more, the Waves maintained a late lead and had match point up 24-23. But the plucky Lions didn't relent. LMU reclaimed the lead and had their first set point off an ace to make the score 25-24.
At this point in the match, McGhie's number was called and the Waves ran a 6-2 offense for the rest of the way. McGhie found Piskorz for a pair of kills and the Waves eventually took a 27-26 lead. However, facing their third match point of the night, LMU outlasted Pepperdine in the longest rally of the night to tie the score at 27 before pushing the match to a deciding set with a 29-27 fourth-set win.
Pepperdine seized control of the fifth set immediately. With McGhie back to serve, consecutive kills from Piskorz and a pair of LMU errors gave Pepperdine a 4-0 lead — a lead the Waves wouldn't relinquish. The Waves were in no real danger of letting the match slip away. Pravednikov had three kills in the frame, then Polk and Lorenzen teamed up for an emphatic block that gave the Waves a 14-4 advantage. Although LMU saved two more match points, Polk finished off the Waves' 15-6 fifth-set win with her ninth kill of the night.
With the win, the Waves have won their last two nationally televised home matches on ESPNU. Their last nationally televised win was a three-set win over San Diego in 2019.
The Waves will stay home to host San Francisco on Saturday at noon. 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.
