MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine women's volleyball (21-8, 15-3 WCC) secured a 3-1 victory against Saint Mary's (11-18, 9-9 WCC) Saturday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
"The Waves played some pretty steady volleyball today, but really excelled at critical times," head coach Scott Wong said.
 
The Gaels got out to a quick start in set one, with four straight kills to open the contest as the road side was ahead early. The Waves answered right away, tying the score a 6-6 with Chloe Pravednikov notching four kills as part of the run to tie it.
 
The sides traded points through the ensuing sequence, with the Gaels eventually getting out to  another four-point advantage at 19-15. The Waves battled back with Vanessa Polk and Maggie Beauer recording kills before back-to-back from Lorenzen brought it back to 20-21 in favor of the road side.
 
However, the Gaels put together their third 4-0 spurt of the set, claiming it by a score of 20-25. To open the match, Pepperdine had an afternoon-high of four serving errors.
 
The Waves were on the comeback trail in set two after falling behind 6-2, as Pepperdine eventually took its first lead of the set at 13-12 as a 5-0 run with Laine Briggs on serve brought the Waves ahead 15-12.
 
Pepperdine pushed the lead to 20-15, with the Gaels pulling it back to within one at 22-21, before Pravednikov ensured the set win for the Waves with the final two points to prevail 25-23. The Waves hit an impressive .400 in the set, the best of the four.
 
Set three saw the Waves get out to a 9-4 lead following a 6-0 run with Charis Kai serving featuring an ace and kills from Pravednikov, Piskorz and Raymond. The back and forth affair continued, as the Gaels got back out to a 11-13 lead with strong defense leading to a pair of blocks and attack errors from the Waves.
 
Eventually trailing 19-21 in the third, the Waves notched six of the next seven points to secure the set, winning on a service ace from Piskorz after a Raymond kill made it set point. Pepperdine hit the best in the third set all afternoon at .205.
 
The Waves opened with a 10-5 advantage in the fourth set with the opportunity to ice the game. Raymond was instrumental in building the lead, logging three kills in the opening sequence as the Gaels eventually fought back to give themselves a 10-12 lead.
 
From there, Saint Mary's would not record another kill as Pepperdine closed out the set in complete control. Highlighted by three Briggs aces, the Waves closed out the match on a 15-4 run of the table. Polk recorded three kills and a block with Piskorz recording three blocks of her own in the final stretch. Closing out the fourth set 25-16, the Waves come away with a 3-1 win after dropping the first set.
Finishing the regular season, Pepperdine is 21-8, including 15-3 in conference play. With a non-conference strength of schedule of eighth in the nation and top-50 rpi wins over UCLA and UC Davis, the Waves will be tuning in to the NCAA selection show Sunday at 3 p.m. with hopes of hearing their name called.
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.
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