Thursday, November 12
Malibu, Calif.
7:00 pm PT
Pepperdine University
vs
San Diego
Photo by: Morgan Davenport
11/11/2026 4:48:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine women's volleyball is ready for round two against the San Diego Toreros, a match that is scheduled for a 7pm pacific time start and can be seen nationally on ESPNU.
The match is sponsored by The Parking Spot. Fans can click this link to purchase tickets and are also encouraged to take advantage of the online-only BOGO deal happening through match day (use promo code ESPNU).
The first 100 students will receive a complimentary t-shirt and a free cheeseburger, courtesy of Irv's Burgers.
The blue and orange hold a 48-39 edge in the all-time series against their Southern California rivals. It's been a back-and-forth battle between the Waves and Toreros recently, with San Diego going 8-6 the last 14 meetings. Pepperdine will seek to snap a two-match home losing streak to San Diego, although the Waves have a 28-15 all-time home record against the Toreros. Pepperdine got the best of USD in the first meeting this season, breaking out the brooms on San Diego's hardwood in a 3-0 sweep on October 10. Freshman Mariia Nikol Dvornikova, a two-time West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week honoree this year, had a breakout game, racking up 14 kills on 29 attacks to lead all players. Her .379 hitting percentage from that match is the highest she's recorded this season.
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.
TICKETS
For more information on ticket packages and to purchase tickets for upcoming home events, visit here.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine women's volleyball news, follow the Waves on social media: @PepperdineWVB on Twitter/X, @pepperdinewvb on Instagram, and Pepperdine Women's Volleyball on Facebook.
The match is sponsored by The Parking Spot. Fans can click this link to purchase tickets and are also encouraged to take advantage of the online-only BOGO deal happening through match day (use promo code ESPNU).
The first 100 students will receive a complimentary t-shirt and a free cheeseburger, courtesy of Irv's Burgers.
If fans aren't able to make it in-person, the match will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU. Anne Marie Anderson, a three-time Emmy Award winner who has covered the Olympics, NBA and MLB Playoffs, in addition to the Super Bowl, will handle play-by-play duties. Nicole Branagh, a three-time beach volleyball gold medalist and former Cal State Fullerton volunteer assistant coach, will serve as the analyst. Fans can stream the game from anywhere on watchespn.com and in the ESPN App, which is free to download on mobile devices and smart TV. Fans are also highly encouraged to download the free Pepperdine Athletics mobile app (Apple and Android devices) and turn on notifications for the latest news and score updates.Come on out this Thursday to the main campus plaza from 3-4 pm for FREE ROOT BEER FLOATS‼️‼️‼️ After that, it's a 7pm match time at Firestone... get your tickets for a great afternoon 😎 🎟️ | https://t.co/wWLDnpNEzO #MakeWaves | @PepperdineWaves https://t.co/FV7eeRlkRv
— Pepperdine Women's Volleyball (@PepperdineWVB) November 11, 2026
The blue and orange hold a 48-39 edge in the all-time series against their Southern California rivals. It's been a back-and-forth battle between the Waves and Toreros recently, with San Diego going 8-6 the last 14 meetings. Pepperdine will seek to snap a two-match home losing streak to San Diego, although the Waves have a 28-15 all-time home record against the Toreros. Pepperdine got the best of USD in the first meeting this season, breaking out the brooms on San Diego's hardwood in a 3-0 sweep on October 10. Freshman Mariia Nikol Dvornikova, a two-time West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week honoree this year, had a breakout game, racking up 14 kills on 29 attacks to lead all players. Her .379 hitting percentage from that match is the highest she's recorded this season.
SCOUTING THE TOREROSGoing berserk for BOGO 🤪 Click the link below to snatch buy one, get one tickets for our match this Thursday against San Diego‼️ (use promo code: ESPNU) 🎟️ | https://t.co/Dth1FvtzVY #MakeWaves | @PepperdineWaves https://t.co/ZTSLayDEni
— Pepperdine Women's Volleyball (@PepperdineWVB) November 10, 2026
- San Diego was picked to win the West Coast Conference.
- Outside hitters Kierstyn Barton and Nemo Beach, in addition to setter Kylie Munday and middle blocker BayLea Sparks, were named to the WCC Preseason Team.
- Munday was named Setter of the Week on August 31
- Beach reached 1,000 career kills in a loss to USC on Sept. 6
- Emma Brewer is the reigning WCC Freshman of the Week
- Barton and Beach rank 10th and 16th in the conference in kills, respectively
- The tandem also ranks 13th and 14th, respectively, in total attacks
- Munday's 772 assists rank 4th in the WCC
- Thursday's match will feature two of the best defensive specialists in Pepperdine's Laine Briggs (2nd in WCC with 373 digs) and San Diego's Lauren Lynch (4th in WCC with 358 digs).
- Thursday's match will also feature five of the top six blockers in the conference, including San Diego's BayLea Sparks and Meghan Scholz
- San Diego has scored 216 fewer points than the Waves (1,346 compared to Pepperdine's 1,562).
- Ella Piskorz is 5th in the program's history with 399 blocks, having surpassed Carrie Romer (1993-96).
- Tristen Raymond surpassed 1,500th career assists at Seattle on October 29.
- Laine Briggs achieved 100 aces for her career and is 51 digs away from eclipsing 1000 for her career.
- Nikol Dvornikova won WCC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 2, marking the second time she's won the award this season. It was Pepperdine's ninth weekly award as a team.
- 2024 alumna Birdie Hendrickson is the most recent Pepperdine alum to go pro, signing with Major League Volleyball expansion team DC Flight. The Flight made the announcement on Saturday, October 3.
- Hendrickson, who is the 30th former Wave to go pro, was a two-time All-WCC First Team in her pair of seasons spent as a Wave. She also garnered two WCC Player of the Week awards, both in 2024 (September 9 and October 21).
- Hendrickson was an all-around player for the Waves, ranking second in digs (331), points (444.5), kills (391), and total attacks (1,056) as a grad student in 2024. Her 2023 campaign was just as consistently good, ranking second on the squad in all four of those same categories.
- Birdie set multiple career-highs in 2024, racking up 27.5 points on September 7 at Hawaii. She shined in the month of October, tallying 25 kills in a home match against Saint Mary's on October 17 before registering a career-best four aces on October 24 at San Francisco. Hendrickson put a bow on things, showing off her defensive skills with 22 digs on November 23 at Pacific.
- With a win at Portland on October 31, head coach Scott Wong moved to 100 games over .500 in his decorated head coaching career (currently 221-119, 65.0 win percentage).
- Pepperdine is among the nation's best in several categories including:
- hitting percentage (.253, 46th)
- aces per set (1.76, 43rd)
- blocks per set (2.79, 15th)
- opponent hitting percentage (.170, 26th)
- Junior setter Tristen Raymond ranks 2nd on the team with 196 digs, which is 19th in the West Coast Conference.
- Her 875 assists lead the team, rank 2nd in the WCC, and is tied for 64th in the country
- She is averaging 36.46 assists per match, way up from 25.96 last season (753 assists in 29 matches/106 sets)
- She is on pace for well over 1,000 assists this season and crack the top-10 in program history by the end of her career.
- Defensive specialist Laine Briggs set a career-high and a new Bluejay Invitational-best in digs with 35 on September 6.
- Her 373 digs on the season pace the squad and slot 2nd in the conference, only trailing Denver's Madison Winkler (405).
- She earned her second consecutive WCC Defensive Player of the Week honor (third career) on Monday, Sept. 21.
- As of Wednesday afternoon (11-11-26), Ella Piskorz is tied for the 21st-most blocks in the country with 122.
- As of Wednesday afternoon (11-11-26), the Waves pace the WCC with 251 team blocks (next-best is LMU's 205)
- Ella is fifth in program history with 399 blocks, having surpassed Carrie Romer's 392 from 1993-96.
- Against Pacific last Saturday, Pepperdine allowed just 24 points, the fewest surrendered by the Waves since Nov. 2, 2023 at Gonzaga (17).
- Pacific's .034 hitting percentage was the second-lowest against Pepperdine this year.
- Pepperdine's 10 aces were tied for the fifth-most in a match this year.
- The Waves had a .337 team hitting percentage, the fourth-highest in a match this season
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.
TICKETS
For more information on ticket packages and to purchase tickets for upcoming home events, visit here.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine women's volleyball news, follow the Waves on social media: @PepperdineWVB on Twitter/X, @pepperdinewvb on Instagram, and Pepperdine Women's Volleyball on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
