TEMPE, Ariz. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team wraps up the non-conference schedule with three matches at the Sun Devil Classic, hosted by No. 8 Arizona State this Thursday through Saturday.

The Waves will play GCU on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT, then take on their second ranked team of the season in a 6 p.m. match against No. 8 Arizona State on Friday. A 2 p.m. match against Milwaukee wraps up the three-day event.

Only Friday's match against No. 8 will be livestreamed on ESPN+, which requires a subscription. Updates for all matches will be provided on X and Instagram @pepperdinewvb. All livestream and live stat links can be found on the women's volleyball team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.

The Waves will be road warriors during the non-conference slate, playing just two of their 11 matches at home. Despite the road trip, this week will be a homecoming of sorts for Maggie Beauer and Tristen Raymond, who hail from Phoenix-area suburbs of Chandler and Peoria, respectively. 

LAST TIME OUT

• Pepperdine pulled off its second reverse-sweep of the year at RV UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday.

• Now the Waves are 2-0 in five-set matches and 4-0 in matches longer than three sets.

• Maggie Beauer set a new career high with 17 kills, Brynne McGhie dished out a season-high 28 assists and the Waves' block shut down UCSB's offense with 12 blocks to the Gauchos' nine.

• Pepperdine's middle blockers were instrumental in the win. Ella Piskorz had a season-high 14 kills to go along with eight total blocks, Vanessa Polk recorded a season-high nine kills, plus Irelynd Lorenzen tied her season high with six kills and added four blocks. 

• With the win, the Waves have two victories over teams mentioned in the AVCA Coaches' Poll. Pepperdine beat then-No. 19 UCLA, while UCSB received votes in the last two AVCA polls. 

AWESOME ARIZONANS

• Stepping into a bigger role as a sophomore, Chandler, Ariz. native Maggie Beauer leads the team with 88 total kills, averaging 2.93 per set. She has recorded double-figure kills in five matches and led the Waves in four.

• 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: She leads Pepperdine with 4.87 assists per set, is fourth in service aces per set (0.30), third in blocks per set (0.70) and third in digs per set (2.07). Earlier this year against Sacramento State, she was the first Wave to record five service aces in a match since Grace Chillingworth did so in 2023.

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 12th with 4.87 per set, while McGhie is tied for 16th with 4.17 per set).

• McGhie and Raymond have traded off being the primary setter in each match. McGhie is coming off her season-high — and the team's single-match high this year — with 28 assists in the win over UCSB. Raymond has surpassed 20 assists in five matches this year, with her best being a 24-assist outing at Sacramento State.

• Both women have finished in double figures in seven of the eight 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. 94 in the NCAA with 1.24 blocks per set. 

• Piskorz leads the WCC with 36 block assists and ranks third with 39 total blocks. She also ranks second in the league with 1.24 blocks per set.

STAY IN YOUR LAINE

• Junior libero Laine Briggs is one of the best servers in the country, as her 0.60 service aces per set is No. 20 in all of Division I. That figure — and her 17 total aces — is the best in the WCC.

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

• Briggs also leads the team and ranks seventh among all WCC players with 3.40 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 1.04 blocks per set, which is tied for No. 11  in the WCC.

• Lorenzen is also No. 12 among all WCC players with 22 block assists and 27 total blocks.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Waves have a 7-4 advantage over Arizona State, but Pepperdine's last road win in Tempe occurred in 1999.

• Pepperdine has never played GCU or Milwaukee.

SCOUTING THE LOPES

• Moving to the Mountain West this season, the GCU Lopes were picked to finish eighth in the league after finishing as the WAC runner-up a year ago. GCU is 2-0 against West Coast Conference teams: They swept Gonzaga and beat Washington State in five sets. The Lopes will only leave the state of Arizona for two of their 11 non-conference matches; six of their matches have been at home.

• San Francisco transfer Hayden Goodman has been the leader for the Lopes up front, with 44.0 total blocks, which is No. 27 in Division I. Her 1.57 blocks per set is good for No. 11 in the nation.

SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS

• Picked to finish third in the highly competitive Big 12 conference, the defending Big 12 champions bring in a slew of talented transfers this year. Oregon transfer Colby Neal (1.36 blocks per set), UMKC transfer Sydney Henry (7.72 assists per set) and former GCU Lope Tatum Parrot (3.04 kills per set) have been regular contributors in the rotation thus far.

• Arizona State has one of the most efficient offenses in the nation, ranking No. 9 in assists per set (13.46) and No. 20 in kills per set (14.14).

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS

• Picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason Poll, the Milwaukee Panthers are searching for their first win after playing a challenging non-conference slate featuring the likes of No. 7 Wisconsin, RV Marquette and Iowa State.

• Senior libero Kara Erdmann ranks No. 58 in Division I with 4.38 digs per set, while senior outside hitter and All-Horizon League honoree Natalie Schmitz surpassed 1,000 career kills earlier this season.

SEASON OVERVIEW

• The Waves enter the eleventh season under head coach Scott Wong. Pepperdine was 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.