Press Release courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics
The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team returns to the road with a set of matches against Santa Clara and San Francisco up north on Thursday and Friday. The matches will stream live on TheW.tv.
MATCH #28 — Thursday (November 9) at Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.: Pepperdine at Santa Clara at 7 p.m. (PT).
MATCH #29 — Saturday (November 11) at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco, Calif.: Pepperdine at San Francisco at 12 p.m. (PT).
LIVE — The match will stream live on TheW.tv. Direct links for all matches, including live statistics can be found on PepperdineWaves.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA — Follow @WavesVolleyball on Twitter for updates and check out PepperdineWaves.com and Facebook (/WavesVolleyball) for releases and more information.
BY THE NUMBERS — This season, Pepperdine has posted a 15-12 overall record and an even 7-7 West Coast Conference record. At home, the Waves have amassed a 9-5 record, while amassing a 3-6 record on the road and 3-1 output on neutral courts. Pepperdine averages 13.53 kills/set on a .222 output, along with 12.81 assists/set, 1.45 aces/set, 16.37 digs/set and 2.66 blocks/set this season.
GROSS ON THE BLOCK — Jasmine Gross’ 156 blocks this season breaks the Pepperdine women’s volleyball program’s single season block record for the rally scoring era, a record she had set in her 2016 freshman campaign at 154 blocks last season. Before 2016, the record stood at 143 blocks by Sophia Milo which happened in 2005.
Gross is also two blocks away from tying and three-away from breaking the Pepperdine women’s volleyball all-time single season block record (including both sideout and rally scoring eras). That record has stood at 158 blocks since the 1991 and 1992 seasons when Lesli Asplund and Barbara Stross broke it in 111 and 109 sets respectively.
AMONG THE RANKS — Pepperdine ranks in the top-30 nationally in five statistical categories. The Waves collectively rank 15th with 274.0 total team blocks, 23rd with 38.14 team attacks/set, 24th with 2.66 blocks/set, 26th with 1,319 team assists and 30th with 1,394 team kills at this point in the season. Pepperdine also ranks atop the West Coast Conference statistical charts in digs/set (16.37), team assists, team attacks/set, team digs (1,686), team kills and total attacks (3.928).
Among individual ranks on the national charts, Jasmine Gross leads the Waves and conference by ranking 3rd nationally with 156 blocks and 9th with 1.51 blocks/set. Gross and Hannah Frohling collectively rank nationally in 10-separate statistical categories.
RETURNING IMPACT — Pepperdine has a wealth of returning players this season, including sophomores Jasmine Gross, Hannah Frohling and Hana Lishman, junior Heidi Dyer and senior Ashley Harris.
Gross is a leader on the court for the Waves, producing 1.51 blocks/set after posting 156 total blocks (24 solos) this season thus far. She also has marked 2.98 kills/set on a .343 success rate, 0.14 aces/set and 0.95 digs/set. Frohling leads the Waves’ offensive with 3.62 kills/set on a .210 output and 0.29 aces/set. She also has put up 2.53 digs/set and 0.45 blocks/set. Lishman is big in the back row with 4.03 digs/set after tabbing 367 total digs. She also adds 0.30 aces/set with 27 aces.
Dyer is an all-around impact for Pepperdine, whether she’s playing outside, right side or setting. She posts 1.60 kills/set, 5.31 assists/set, 0.17 aces/set, 2.24 digs/set and 0.69 blocks/set for the Waves this season. Harris is strong outside or on the right, putting up 1.79 kills/set and adding 0.85 blocks/set.
NEWCOMER TALENT — Newcomers Blossom Sato and Alli O’Harra have made quite the impact this season. Junior transfer Sato leads the team with 9.56 assists/set after putting up 612 assists. She adds 0.27 kills/set, 0.22 aces/set, 2.84 digs/set and 0.28 blocks/set for the Waves. Freshman O’Harra serves the Waves in the middle, posting 1.56 kills/set on a .235 success rate, along with 0.95 blocks/set.
LAST WEEK — Last week at home, Pepperdine won a pair of conference home matches in Malibu, sweeping Portland and coming back for a 3-1 win over Gonzaga. Against Portland, the Waves marked 25-16, 25-19 and 25-19 set scores for the win after amassing 48 kills on a .318 success rate, along with 45 assists, five aces, 59 digs and 8.0 team blocks. The Pilots put up 40 kills on a .186 clip, as well as 39 assists, three aces, 65 digs and 3.0 team blocks. Hannah Frohling and Jasmine Gross led the team with 17 and 10 kills respectively. Frohling tabbed a .371 hitting percentage as well as 10 kills and one ace, while Gross tabbed a .409 success rate along with three blocks including two solo rejections. Blossom Sato also marked a double-double with 39 assists and 13 digs, Hana Lishman posted 15 digs and Alli O’Harra and Jaiden Farr marked four blocks and four aces respectively.
Then against Gonzaga, Frohling, Ashley Harris, Gross and Heidi Dyer each posted double-figure kill matches en route to the Waves’ 19-25, 25-12, 25-22, 25-15 victory. Frohling, Sato and Dyer also tabbed double-doubles. Frohling led the team with 15 kills and 12 digs and Sato posted 47 assists and 14 digs. Dyer tabbed 11 kills and 13 digs and Harris tallied 14 kills on a .324 success rate and four blocks. Farr tabbed four aces for the second-consecutive match and Lishman led the team with 23 digs. Gross posted 11 kills on a .308 clip and added six blocks including one solo rejection to break the Pepperdine women’s volleyball program’s single-season block record for the rally scoring era.
THE COMPETITION — The Waves have posted a 40-31 overall record against Santa Clara, dating back to 1982 when the Waves won the first-ever match-up on neutral ground. Each team has posted winning streaks, with Pepperdine taking the first honor from 1985-1988 after seven-straight wins. They won six-straight from 1989-91 before the Broncos put four together from 1992-93. The Waves put another six-together from 2001-03, while SCU won six-straight only on two occasions from 2004-06 and 2007-09. Last season, the Waves and Broncos split the year, with SCU taking a four-set win in Santa Clara and Pepperdine winning the final match in four-sets at home. This season, Santa Clara has gone 13-12 overall and 6-7 in the WCC.
Pepperdine has gone 58-7 overall against San Francisco since the team’s first faced off in 1985. From 1985-92, the Waves won 16-consecutive matches before the Dons took a 3-2 win in the 1993 campaign. Then, from 1993-2007, Pepperdine won another 29-straight. Since 2008, the Waves have posted a 13-6 record against USF, including a 3-0 sweep at home earlier this season and a current six-match winning streak. This season, the Dons have posted a 3-23 overall record and a 0-13 West Coast Conference record.
SNAPCHAT FAMOUS — The NCAA rolled out a new initiative highlighting a day in the life of a student-athlete on Snapchat for the first time on the Waves’ game day with Long Beach State. Pepperdine, with Hannah Frohling at the helm, took over the controls of @ncaasports Snapchat on September 12 and showed the masses what it is to be a student-athlete in Malibu.
HEIDI DYER, THE TITANIUM WOMAN — Junior Heidi Dyer had an interesting road to NCAA Division I athletics and AVCA Beach All-American status. When she was 12, a major scoliosis curve of over 60 percent forced her to get corrective surgery. She had two titanium rods fused to her spine to keep her back straight. Despite her parents being told she would never play volleyball again and may never walk again, she defied all odds and became one of Pepperdine beach and indoor volleyball student-athletes. During the NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championships last season, TurnerSports and NCAA.com did a feature piece on her that streamed throughout the NCAA tournament and aired on TBS. It was voted one of the top-10 features on NCAA.com last season.
SATO NATION — Junior Blossom Sato comes from the very well-known Sato volleyball dynasty. Her mother Liane was a member of the US Women’s National Team in 1988 and 1992 when the team captured the Olympic Games bronze medal. She now coaches Santa Monica High School. Her uncles Eric and Gary were also standouts in the sport, playing or coaching alongside legendary Pepperdine men’s volleyball coach Marv Dunpnhy for Team USA when the squad won the gold in 1988. Eric was a member of the 1988 US Men’s National Team that claimed gold and the 1992 squad that earned bronze. Gary, who is now an assistant for USC, served as the United States’ Head Coach for the 1985 FIVB World Cup gold medal finish and served as an assistant for the US Men’s National Team from 1984-88, 1992 and 2009-12.
GROSS’ IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS — Sophomore Jasmine Gross is the daughter of Aaron Gross and Susan Campbell, who both are the head coaches of West Coast Conference competitors University of Portland men’s and women’s tennis teams respectively.
SCOTT WONG — Pepperdine alum Scott Wong was named head coach in December 2014, becoming the fifth head coach in program history. In first two seasons at the helm of the Waves, he amassed a 30-31 overall record for Pepperdine. He was an assistant with the Waves’ men’s program from 2005-09 (and was part of the 2005 NCAA championship-winning team) before moving back to his home state of Hawaii and serving as associate coach with the Rainbows’ women’s squad for five seasons. He was also Hawaii’s sand volleyball head coach. Wong was a three-time All-American with the Waves between 1998-01.
INDOOR 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 27 times in 42 seasons, including 13 trips to the NCAA Championships in the last 20 seasons. Pepperdine’s best finishes in recent years came when the team made the regional final of the NCAA Tournament in 2002 and again in 2011. Ten players have earned AVCA or Volleyball Magazine All-American honors a combined 19 times, while six players have been dubbed the WCC Player of the Year nine total times. Nina Matthies, who stepped down after the 2013 season, was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in December, 2015.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I Championships in five different men’s sports — one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat — and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a “major” conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that’s given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation’s most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks No. 50 overall on U.S. News and World Report’s list of America’s best colleges.
Leave a Reply