TEMPE, Ariz. — Sophomore middle blocker Ella Piskorz tied her season-high with 14 kills and the Pepperdine women's volleyball team (6-5) wrapped up the Sun Devil Classic by sweeping Milwaukee in Tempe, Ariz. on Saturday afternoon.
"This weekend was capped off by playing some really good volleyball against a good Milwaukee team," Head Coach Scott Wong said. "They tested us and ultimately, we made some plays to break the match open down the stretch. I'm proud of these girls for what we accomplished this weekend."
Piskorz led all players with 14 kills and six blocks, Tristen Raymond chipped in nine kills, 17 assists and a pair of service aces, plus Maggie Beauer added six kills to help the Waves. Using its size advantage, Pepperdine had nine total blocks to Milwaukee's six, plus the Waves doubled up the Panthers behind the service line with eight aces to Milwaukee's four. Brynne McGhie matched Raymond with 17 assists, while Laine Briggs led the team with 10 digs and a pair of aces. Saturday's match was Pepperdine's final non-conference match of the regular season.
The Waves started off strong with eight unanswered points before the Panthers got on the board. Pepperdine never trailed in the first set and doubled up Milwaukee 16-8 off an ace from Ryan Gilhooly before the Panthers burned their final timeout of the set. Although the Panthers made a furious push late in the frame, Pepperdine put them away 25-21 to take the first set.
The second set saw Piskorz come alive. The sophomore middle blocker accounted for four of Pepperdine's first six points of the set before adding two more midway through the frame for a five-kill set. Leading 8-7, the Waves sided out with a Raymond kill, then she went back behind the service line to finish off a 4-0 run that featured an ace from the freshman.
That run gave Pepperdine the cushion it needed for the rest of the way, which became valuable late in the set. Milwaukee hung with Pepperdine to tie the match at 24, but the Waves took advantage of a Milwaukee error and Raymond slammed a kill home to win a close second set 26-24.
Just like they did in the first set, the Waves blew the match open early in the third. Pepperdine took an 11-2 lead thanks to another solid start from Piskorz, who had three kills and two block assists to start the third set. Emma McMahon's second ace of the afternoon gave Pepperdine a double-digit lead at 13-3, then the Waves' lead ballooned to a dozen when Raymond found Chloe Pravednikov for a kill to make the score 19-7. Milwaukee tried mounting another comeback late in the set, but Beauer ended the match with her third kill of the set for the 25-15 third-set win.
Pepperdine begins West Coast Conference play with a match against San Diego on Thursday at 6 p.m. 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.
