Women's Volleyball Readies for Massive Match at Saint Mary's

MORAGA, Calif. - The last two regular season road matches have arrived for Pepperdine women's volleyball, as the Waves are set to battle Saint Mary's and Pacific this weekend.

Thursday's match is arguably the biggest of the campaign to date for the blue and orange, as Pepperdine looks to stave off Saint Mary's from at least holding the tiebreaker for the number two spot in the standings. Saint Mary's currently sits one game back of Pepperdine and LMU (the Waves have the head-to-head-tiebreaker). The Gaels and Waves met earlier this season and Saint Mary's got the best of Pepperdine, winning 3-1 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

On Saturday, the Waves will face a Pacific squad that, as of today, has dropped 17 consecutive matches and is 0-11 in WCC action.

Wednesday work 👷‍♀️ #MakeWaves | @PepperdineWaves https://t.co/L49sURh8K2
— Pepperdine Women's Volleyball (@PepperdineWVB) November 4, 2026

Saint Mary's recorded their best conference start in program history after a win at Denver on Oct. 22, moving to 8-1 in the WCC at the time.
Setter Sadie White has earned a pair of WCC Setter of the Week awards.
Antonie Kelnarova won WCC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28
On Sept. 4, Saint Mary's recorded 20 aces in a sweep over Nevada, the first time the program has tallied such a number.
In that same Nevada match, Kelnarova became the first player in program history to record double-digit aces and the first to record a triple-double.
The Gaels' victory over Pepperdine on Oct. 3 was the last time Pepperdine lost a match and was Saint Mary's first victory in Malibu since 2015
Saint Mary's was picked to finish 5th in the conference and is currently in second place, just one game back of the top spot.

AMAZING ACCOLADES

Ella Piskorz achieved 400 career blocks. She is 5th in the program's history in blocks, having surpassed Carrie Romer (1993-96) this past weekend.
Tristen Raymond surpassed 1,500th career assists last Thursday at Seattle.
Laine Briggs achieved 100 aces for her career and is 77 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.

SERIES HISTORY

Pepperdine has a commanding 61-17 lead in the all-time series.
Dating back to the 2016 season, the Waves have won 17 of 20 matchups.
The blue and orange is 28-11 on the road against Saint Mary's.
Pepperdine is 10-2 in the last 12 road meetings at the Gaels.

MAKING WAVES IN THE PROS

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.

100 FOR WONG

With a win last Saturday at Portland, head coach Scott Wong moved to 100 games over .500 in his decorated head coaching career (219-119, .648%).

IN THE NATIONAL RANKS

Pepperdine is among the nation's best in several categories including:
hitting percentage (.252, 48th)
assists per set (12.11, 92nd)
aces per set (1.72, 60th)
blocks per set (2.75, 16th)
opponent hitting percentage (.177, 40th)

THE WAVES FIGHT ON

The upset victory over No. 19 USC (who is no longer ranked or recieving votes) on September 19 was:
the first time since September 13, 2013 that the Waves have swept a ranked opponent on the road (no. 19 Kentucky)
the first road sweep of any opponent since Nov. 6 last year at Gonzaga
the first sweep of USC since December 3, 2005 (a home match for Pepperdine)
Pepperdine's highest-ranked road win since September 15, 2022 at No. 6 Minnesota

STANDOUT SUPERLATIVES

The Waves have matched their season-high seven-match winning streak, having won seven straight from Sept. 11-Oct. 1.
Pepperdine has yet to lose a match when taking the first set.
The blue and orange have won 10 of 13 matches in which Pepperdine has fewer digs.
The victory over San Francisco on Sept. 26 was the first (and currently the only) win of the year following a first-set loss.
Pepperdine has been great at closing out matches, recording a 10-0 record with a 2-1 set lead and a 3-0 record when the match is tied at two sets apiece.

TRACKING TRISTEN'S TRIUMPHS

Junior setter Tristen Raymond ranks 2nd on the team with 178 digs, which is tied for 21st in the West Coast Conference.
Her 808 assists lead the team, rank 2nd in the WCC, and slot 64th in the country
She is averaging 36.72 assists per match (808 in 22 matches/83 sets), way up from 25.96 last season (753 assists in 29 matches/106 sets)
She is on pace for over 1,000 assists this season and crack the top-10 in program history by the end of her career.

PUTTING THE 'SPECIAL' IN DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST

Defensive specialist Laine Briggs set a career-high and a new Bluejay Invitational-best in digs with 35 on September 6.
Her 344 digs on the season pace the squad and slot 2nd in the conference, only trailing Denver's Madison Winkler (393).
She earned her second consecutive WCC Defensive Player of the Week honor (third career) on Monday, Sept. 21.

MAJESTIC MAGGIE

Junior outside hitter Maggie Beauer tied a season-high in blocks (2.5) and digs (4) against Arizona on Sept. 6
She also racked up a career-high 20 kills against Arizona, a five-set victory over the Wildcats
Maggie's 219 kills are 2nd on the team (only trailing Chloe Pravednikov's 248) and 14th in the WCC
She is one of four Waves to rank inside the top 20 in the conference in kills (Pravedikov, 9th; Piskorz, 17th; Dvornikova, 18th)
She recorded a new season-high in digs (5) and blocks (3) at Denver on October 8 in the 3-0 win over Denver

BLOCK PARTY

The Waves paced the West Coast Conference with 295 blocks during the 2025 season, and returning junior Ella Piskorz led all conference qualifiers with 151 (next-best was 126).
As of Wednesday afternoon (11-4-26), Piskorz is tied for the 16th-most blocks in the country with 117.
As of Wednesday afternoon (11-4-26), the Waves pace the WCC with 228 team blocks (next-best is LMU's 189)
Ella is fifth in program history with 400 blocks, having surpassed Carrie Romer's 392 from 1993-96.

CHLOE'S CRUSHING IT

Chloe Pravednikov's 248 kills pace the squad and are the ninth-most in the conference.
Her 2.99 kills per set are 11th in the WCC.
She holds the team lead in points with 271.0, which also ranks 11th in the conference.

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.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maggie Beauer

Laine Briggs

Ella Piskorz

Chloe Pravednikov

Tristen Raymond

Footer