Pepperdine Women's Volleyball Team: Waves Tangle with Portland and Gonzaga on the Road
Pepperdine's final road trip of the regular season brings them to the home of the Pilots and the Bulldogs.
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team (17-7, 8-2 West Coast Conference) travels to Portland and Gonzaga for the final road trip of the regular season. The Waves tangle with the Pilots (10-17, 3-8 WCC) on Thurs., Nov. 11 at 7 p.m., before a noon contest versus the Bulldogs (2-25, 0-11 WCC) on Sat., Nov. 13 to wrap up the week.
LOOKING BACK - The Waves completed the season sweep of Loyola Marymount after defeating the Lions 3-0 on Saturday inside Firestone Fieldhouse. Earlier this season, Pepperdine topped LMU in straight sets on the road. Collectively, the women’s volleyball team have scored 2.5 points for Pepperdine in the Pacific Coast Highway Challenge standings. The PCH Challenge is a year-long series that serves as an annual scorecard for the NCAA-sponsored athletic contests between the Lions and the Waves.
LOOKING AHEAD - The last weekend of the regular season brings San Diego and Saint Mary’s to the Malibu campus for a final showdown between the WCC’s top-three squads. The Toreros currently top the standings with a 10-0 record, while the Waves are knotted with the Gaels at 8-2.
ON THE WEB — Pepperdine will be broadcasting all home matches live and for free via Wave Casts. Live stats will also be available through GameTracker and can be accessed at www.PepperdineSports.com, where you can also find links to available media for Pepperdine road contests.
PORTLAND SCOUTING REPORT - Portland is 10-17 and 3-8 in the WCC after beating USF, but losing to Santa Clara last week ... Pepperdine is 45-2 all time versus the Pilots and 21-2 when facing them on the road ... Portland lost to the Waves during the first meeting of the season, 3-0 ... Pepperdine has won the last 31 consecutive contests ... The Pilots top offensive threat is Kati Hronek, who averaged 3.12 kills/set ... Danielle Dupar touts a league-best 5.52 digs/set, which ranks in the top-10 in NCAA Div. I ... Hronek, Ariel Usher, Marissa Plummer and Kate Bostwick account for over 80-percent of the Pilots’ kills.
GETTING FAMILIAR WITH GONZAGA - The Bulldogs are just 2-25 and have yet to win a WCC contest ... Gonzaga’s last win was on Aug. 28 versus Cal State Bakersfield ... Pepperdine is 44-3 all-time versus the Bulldogs ... Schylur Edelman paces Gonzaga with 1.98 kills/set ... Allyson Powell averages 4.21 digs/set in the backcourt ... Edelman also boasts the most blocks on the team, with 81 total this season.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW - Selections for the 2010 NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Sun., Nov. 28, on ESPNEWS between 12 and 12:30 p.m.
RPI - In the latest issue of the RPI, Pepperdine ranks 49 overall -- the second best RPI in the WCC. San Diego has the highest RPI in the league with a 38.
FIRST AND 20 - Junior outside hitter Lilla Frederick nailed down a career-best 20 kills versus Saint Mary’s on Oct. 20. It was the first time any Wave has eclipsed the 20-kill plateau this season, and the first time since Kim Hill achieved the feat during the season closer versus USF on Nov. 21, 2009.
WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK, OCT. 18 - After averaging a blazing 5.33 kills/set and her third season double-double (kills-digs) Lilla Frederick was honored as the WCC Player of the Week. This was the first time the junior outside hitter earned the weekly honor.
IT COULD HAPPEN - Victoria Adelhelm is four kills away from reaching the 400 career kills plateau ... Kellie Woolever is 79 assists away from reaching the 1,000 total this season ... Adelhelm’s first kill of the week will be her 200th of the season ... This could be the 80th match of Kim Hill and Lilla Frederick’s career.
STREAKING - Victoria Adelhelm has denied at least one attack in the last 11 matches including four or more in four of the last five matches ... Lilla Frederick has eclipsed double-digit kill totals in five of the last seven contests and has recorded an ace in five of the last six matches ... Stevi Robinson has surpassed 10 digs in the last seven matches including a pair of 20+ digs contests ... Kim Hill has recorded at least one block in all 24 matches this season and has eclipsed double-digit kills total in 17 contests during the 2010 campaign.
WCC Overall RANKS - Pepperdine continues to tout the best hitting percentage in the WCC with a .272 (157-393-2805) clip ... The Waves holds opponents to a league-best .163 attack percentage ... The Waves rank second with 13.28 assists per set and 2.72 blocks per set ... Pepperdine has the second-best kill average (14.28) and third-best service ace average (1.51) ... The Waves rank sixth with 14.02 digs per set ... Victoria Adelhelm has the second-best hitting percentage in the league with .369 ... Kellie Woolever averages 11.37 assists per set to rank second ... Brittney Clark, Adelhelm and Hill rank No. 2, 4 and 6 with 1.30, 1.05, and .94 blocks per set, respectively ... Stevi Robinson ranks third in the WCC with a 4.20 digs per set average ... In the kills per set category, Hill ranks fifth with 3.31 kps, Emily Cook sits in eighth with 2.97 and Lilla Frederick ranks ninth with 2.95 kps.
WCC Only RANKS - Pepperdine also ranks high when considering only matches against league opponents ... Brittney Clark hits .427 against league opponents to rank second, while Victoria Adelhelm boasts a hitting percentage of .370 to rank fifth ... Lilla Frederick ranks fourth with 3.52 kps ... Kellie Woolever averages 11.70 assists per set in league action to rank second ... Kim Hill has the number two service ace per set average with .42 ... Emily Cook ranks ninth with 3.06 kps ... Brittney Clark and Adelhelm average 1.36 and 1.15blocks/set to rank second and sixth, respectively ... The Waves are first in overall hitting percentage (.302) as well as opponent hitting percentage (.152) and service aces (1.70); second in assists (14.156 aps), blocks (2.82 bps), and kills (15.24 kps); and third in digs (15.00).
WCC PLAYER OF THE MONTH, SEPTEMBER - Victoria Adelhelm was named WCC Co-Player of the Month for her performance in September. During that month, she led the team with a .343 hitting percentage and 42 total blocks to help the Waves to a 6-3 record.
WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK, SEPTEMBER 6 - Victoria Adelhelm was named WCC Co-Player of the Week on Sept. 6 after hitting a team-best .520 (30-4-50) attack percentage, while denying attackers on defense on 12 occasions. This is the first weekly award for the sophomore, and the first for the Waves during the 2010 season.
RETURN TO SENDER - Brittney Clark kept UC Santa Barbara attackers at bay, tallying a career-best 12 blocks versus the Gauchos on Oct. 6. The total ranks tied for second in the single match Pepperdine record books (rally scoring era only) Victoria Adelhelm returned 10 attacks to the New Mexico State side of the net on Sept. 17 to also rank top-five in the single match record books along with Clark.
TOURNAMENT SEASON RECAP - Pepperdine went 8-4 in its four tournaments this fall. The Waves won the UNLV Invitational, and took second at the Arizona Invitational and the Asics Classic. Kim Hill received all-tournament team honors at MCM Elegante Lobo Classic, the UNLV Invitational, and the Arizona Invitational. Victoria Adelhelm and Lilla Frederick both earned recognition at the Asics Classic and the UNLV Invitational. Emily Cook was named to her first all-tournament team of the season at the Arizona Invitational.
1K CLUB - Stevi Robinson tallied 52 digs during the Asics Classic including a season-best 27 versus Missouri. Her 26th dig of the match gave the junior her 1,000 career dig. She currently ranks first in the Pepperdine history books with a career average of 4.58 dps.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING - Known for her offensive prowess, Kim Hill showed her versatility on Sept. 3 against Rice at the Asics Classic, recording a career-high 10 digs. Coupled with her 12 kills, the junior registered her first-ever double double.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine received six votes on the latest installment of the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll.
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AVCA TOP-25 - Pepperdine routinely faces some of the top opponents in the county. The Waves, who received votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Polls, have faced #4 Stanford, #13 UCLA and #19 San Diego already this season. Since the ranking system was established in 1982, Pepperdine has amassed 84 victories over top-25 squads.
PRESEASON WCC COACHES’ POLL - The Waves were voted to finished third in the West Coast Conference in the coaches’ preseason poll. San Diego was picked as the favorite with six first-place votes, while 2009 WCC Champion Saint Mary’s was predicted to finish in second.
PRESEASON ALL-WCC - Kim Hill was voted to the Preseason All-WCC Team. Last season Hill led the conference with .425 hitting percentage and was awarded All-WCC first team honors. In addition, she was named an honorable mention All-American by the AVCA.
NINA MATTHIES — Now in her 28th season as head coach of the Waves, Nina Matthies enters the 2010 season with a career record of 527-312 (.627), which includes 10 conference championships and 18 NCAA Tournament appearances. She is by far the WCC’s all-time winningest coach and is a nine-time WCC Coach of the Year. Matthies was among the world’s top players and is a member of the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame. In 2009, Dig Magazine rated her and former partner Linda Hanley as the second-best women’s beach team of all time. She won two AIAW national championships as a player at UCLA.
ROSTER — The Waves return four starters plus the libero and lost only two starters from the 2009 squad. Twelve returners (11 letterwinners and one redshirt) are joined by three newcomers (all true freshmen) to bring the squad total to 15. What was once considered a young team has given way to experienced veteran status as the squad breakdown includes two seniors, four juniors, five sophomores, and four freshmen in terms of eligibility.
2009 RECAP — It was another solid year for the Pepperdine women’s volleyball team. Kim Hill earned AVCA All-American honorable mention honors. She led the conference with a .425 attack percentage and ranked fifth in the NCAA. The Waves finished the league in third place after posting a 9-5 record and finished with an overall record of 16-11. Kiah Fiers, Rachel Grochmal and Hill claimed All-WCC first team honors, while Victoria Adelhelm and Stevi Robinson were named to the All-WCC honorable mention squad.
TICKETS — Single-match tickets to all home women’s volleyball games are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free to all Pepperdine students and faculty with a university ID.
PEPPERDINE TWEETS — To receive all the latest up-to-date information on the Waves, follow the Pepperdine Athletics Twitter at www.twitter.com/peppsports
VOLLEYBALL HISTORY — The Pepperdine women’s volleyball program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power. The Waves have advanced to postseason play 25 times in 35 seasons, including 11 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 13 seasons. Pepperdine’s best finishes in recent years came when the team made the regional final of the 2002 NCAAs, and then in 2003 when the Waves posted 27 victories (most in the Nina Matthies era).
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men’s sports — one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine’s teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
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