Press Release courtesy of Sarah Otteman, Pepperdine Athletics
The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team returns home for four consecutive matches, starting with San Francisco and Santa Clara in Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday and Saturday. All home matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv.
MATCH #20 — Thursday (October 12) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif..: Pepperdine vs. San Francisco at 7 p.m. (PT).
MATCH #21 — Saturday (October 14) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif..: Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara at 12 p.m. (PT).
LIVE — All Pepperdine home matches 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.
TICKETS — Each match costs $10 for adults and $8 for alumni, children, seniors and non-Pepperdine students. Tickets are free for Pepperdine students, faculty and staff with a valid Pepperdine ID. Purchase tickets in advance at 866-WAVE-TIX or at the ticket office on game day.
BY THE NUMBERS — The Waves have posted an 11-8 record this season with an even 3-3 conference output. At home, Pepperdine has amassed a 6-2 record, while the team is 2-5 on the road and 3-1 in neutral settings. As a team, the Waves have marked 13.86 kills/set on a .224 success rate, while adding 13.15 assists/set, 1.51 aces/set, 15.90 digs/set and 2.62 blocks/set against opponents. Pepperdine ranks 13th nationally with 191.0 total blocks, 17th with 960 team assists, 24th with 1,012 total kills and 25th with 37.89 attacks/set. The Waves also rank 1st in the WCC in team assists, attacks/set, digs, kills and total attacks. Pepperdine allows opposing teams 13.14 kills/set on a .202 hitting percentage on average, as well as 12.41 assists/set, 1.21 aces/set, 16.11 digs/set and 2.60 blocks/set.
RETURNING IMPACT — Pepperdine has a wealth of key returners, with Jasmine Gross, Hannah Frohling, Hana Lishman, Heidi Dyer and Nikki Lyons leading the offensive and defensive pack. Gross is a powerhouse at the net, ranking 5th nationally with 106 total blocks and 24th with 1.45 blocks/set at this point in the season. She is also second on the team with 3.10 kills/set on a team-best .343 hitting percentage. Frohling leads the team and ranks 48th nationally with 758 total attack attempts, posting 3.62 kills/set in the process. She leads the team with 23 total service aces to average 0.32 aces/set and ads 2.63 digs/set. Lyons is also strong on the offensive with 2.97 kills/set, along with 0.18 aces/set and 2.45 digs/set.
Lishman is clutch in the back row, averaging 3.75 digs/set after posting 229 total digs this season. She is second on the team with 0.28 aces/set as well. Dyer has been serving as the primary playmaker in the second half of the season, marking 6.27 assists/set, 1.99 digs/set, 1.33 kills/set and 0.64 blocks/set for the team. She has a team-high 439 total assists.
NEWCOMER TALENT — The newcomers have been strong this season as well, as Alli O’Harra and Blossom Sato have made big impacts. O’Harra is good for 1.77 kills/set on a .239 success rate and adds 0.93 block/set. Sato leads the team with 11.17 assists/set and is second with 0.31 aces/set, while producing 2.71 digs/set as well.
LAST WEEK — The Waves had a pair of tough five-set losses last week, first dropping to Gonzaga, a team tied for first in the WCC, and then Portland, a team that was tied for third, after going up 2-1 in each match. Against the Zags, Pepperdine posted 25-22, 26-28, 25-19, 22-25, 10-15 set scores to drop. The team produced a .254 hitting percentage on 71 kills, while adding four aces, 62 digs and 10.0 team blocks. The opposition was allowed 63 kills on a .233 clip, along with eight aces, 68 digs and 11.0 team blocks. Jasmine Gross and Hannah Frohling led the team with 19 kills apiece. Gross posted her career-high kill effort with a .417 success rate and added nine blocks including one solo rejection. Frohling marked a double-double with 10 assists and three blocks as well. Nikki Lyons was good for 14 kills, while Heidi Dyer marked a double-double with a career-high 63 assists and added 11 digs and three blocks. Jaiden Farr and Hana Lishman each added 14 and 12 digs respectively, while Lishman led the team with two aces.
Against Portland, the Waves lost the first set 21-25, but rallied to win the next two 35-33 and 25-15. The Pilots then shut the match down with 25-22 and 15-9 wins for the victory. The Waves 35 points scored in the second set is the second most points scored in a single set in the Pepperdine women’s volleyball record book’s rally scoring era records.
The Waves posted 66 smashes on a .183 attack effort, while adding eight aces, 95 digs and 11.0 team blocks. The opposition amassed 65 kills on a .241 clip, along with seven aces, 95 digs and 10.0 team blocks. Four players hit for double-figure kills and six players marked double-figure digs. Frohling, Lyons, Dyer and Gross all picked up double-doubles. Frohling led the squad with 19-smashes for the second-straight match, while adding 11 digs and three aces. Lyons marked 16 kills and 15 digs, Dyer was good for 48 assists and a career-best 18 digs and Gross added 12 kills and 10 digs along with four blocks including two solos. Ashley Harris added 10 kills and a team-high six blocks including one solo, while Lishman led the team with a career-best 24 digs. Farr was good for 11 digs and three aces as well.
THE COMPETITION — The Waves hold winning all-time record over each San Francisco (57-7) and Santa Clara (40-31). Against USF, the Waves won the first-ever match-up in 1985 with a 3-1 win, securing 16-consecutive match wins before the Dons overcame the Waves in 1993 after a five-set battle. After that, Pepperdine went on another winning-streak with 29-straight wins from 1993-2007. The Waves are currently on a five-match winning streak with four 3-1 wins and one straight-set victory. This season, the Dons have posted a 3-16 overall record and 0-6 in the conference, including a 3-6 output at home and 0-7 record on the road. USF has posted wins against Nevada, Cal State Northridge and Fresno State this season, while the Waves lost to CSUN when played early in the season. Last week, the Dons fell to Santa Clara in straight sets and Portland and Gonzaga in five-sets each
The Waves have posted a 22-11 record at home against Santa Clara within the team’s 40-31 overall record against the Broncos, 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 8-10 overall and 1-5 in the WCC, including 3-4 records at home and on the road. Last week, the Broncos overcame a six-match losing streak with a straight-set win over USF.
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. 46 overall on U.S. News and World Report’s list of America’s best colleges.
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