MALIBU, Calif. — After a week away from competition, the Pepperdine women's volleyball team (8-7, 2-2 WCC) will host the Washington State Cougars (10-4, 4-0 WCC) this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Sharing the same theme as women's soccer's home game against Gonzaga, Saturday will be the program's first-ever Hispanic Heritage Game. Free tote bags will be given to the first 50 fans in attendance. 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

• On its first West Coast Conference road trip of the year, Pepperdine split a pair of matches against San Francisco and Santa Clara last week.

• Against San Francisco, the Waves trailed 18-7 in the first set but came back to win 25-23, which was their biggest comeback of the season. They held off a USF run to win the second set 25-23 before putting the Dons in the rear-view mirror with a 25-14 third-set win.

• Powered by Santa Clara outside hitter Cate Shanahan's 26 kills, the Waves fell in four sets to Santa Clara last Saturday. All four sets were decided by five points or fewer.

• Throughout last week, outside hitter Maggie Beauer led the Waves with 29 kills (4.14 per set), including a 16-kill outing against USF that was one shy of her career high.

• Freshman Tristen Raymond had two double-doubles last week. She finished with 12 assists and 10 digs against USF, then set a career high with 10 kills and 21 assists against Santa Clara. She leads the team with six double-doubles.

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 in 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 5.15 assists per set, is second in service aces per set (0.38), third in blocks per set (0.69) and second in digs per set (2.27). 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 153 kills, which is No. 13 in the WCC. Her 2.78 kills per set is good for second on the Waves.

• 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. Early this season, Pravednikov tied her career high with 19 kills against Sacramento State — one of a team-high 10 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 5.51 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 three 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. 64 in the NCAA with 67 total blocks.

• Her 62 block assists and 67 total blocks lead the WCC, while her 1.22 blocks per set rank third.

STAY IN YOUR LAINE

• Junior libero Laine Briggs is one of the best servers in the country, as her 25 total aces rank No. 67 in all of Division I and first in the WCC. Her 0.45 aces per set leads the WCC and ranks No. 64 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 1.93 aces per set and No. 46 with 106 service aces on the 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 11 of the 15 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 have a perfect 4-0 lead in the all-time series against Washington State.

• Pepperdine swept the series last year, beating Washington State 3-1 in a nationally televised win in Pullman before sweeping them in Malibu.

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS

• Picked to finish fourth in the Preseason WCC Coaches Poll, the Cougars are one of four undefeated teams in conference play with a 4-0 record.

• Washington State's offense is one of the best in the WCC, leading the conference in assists per set (13.85), hitting percentage (.334) and kills per set (14.90).

• Middle blocker Lucie Blazkova has made an impact on offense and defense. She ranks second in the WCC and No. 65 in the nation with 1.25 blocks per set, ranks second in the WCC and No. 85 nationally with 65 total blocks, plus her .441 hitting percentage leads the league.

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.