At one point during the Pepperdine Waves women’s indoor volleyball team’s second set against the visiting Loyola Marymount University Lions on Oct. 13, the volleyball was batted high above the court, nearly to the gymnasium’s ceiling. At the end of the ball’s plunge, Waves junior libero Hana Lishman tapped it back up in the air to another Wave. The ball was batted around between the Waves and Lions before it finally hit the floor on Pepperdine’s side of the net, awarding LMU a point.
That was one of the very few things that went wrong for the Waves as they swept the Lions, 3-0, in Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse. The home team led most of the time throughout the three sets. The Waves peppered the Lions, a West Coast Conference rival, with kill after kill and block after block as they racked up points and high fives with each other.
Pepperdine head coach Scott Wong said LMU was a good opponent, but his team put in the work it took to win.
“For us it’s just been a work-like approach every practice, every contact, every point,” he said. “It’s really neat to see the maturity of our team because I believe we are doing that more and more often.”
The coach said his group has maturity when facing opponents.
“We are learning a ton in the gym, and I think everyone is seeing it on the court now,” Wong said.
Senior setter Blossom Soto led Pepperdine with a .371 hitting percentage, five digs and two blocks as the Waves won each set, 25-18. Freshman outside hitter Rachel Ahrens had 13 kills, a .346 hitting percentage, two aces, five digs and five blocks for Pepperdine. Junior outside hitter Hannah Frohling had 14 kills, a .357 hitting percentage, one ace and two blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Shannon Scull had six kills, a .312 hitting percentage, 13 digs and three blocks. Junior middle blocker Tarah Wylie posted seven kills, a .583 hitting percentage and five blocks.
Pepperdine’s coach said Madison “Mad Dog” Shields, a freshman l ibero, who had two digs, also had a great game.
“She is not always in there, and it’s very tough to come off the bench and step up and play solid volleyball in critical times,” he said. “She did that. She is tough. She is a gamer.”
Pepperdine and LMU traded points in the first match before the Waves took an 8-7 lead. After Ahrens’ fourth block of the day gave Pepperdine a 21-16 lead, her team outscored LMU, 4-2, to close the set.
In the second set, Pepperdine took a 2-1 lead and never looked back. The Waves had leads of 6-3, 10-4, 13-7, 17-12 and 19-13 as they marched to the 25-18 win. Ahrens scored the match’s final point.
Frohling’s 12th kill of the day tied the final set at 2. Then, the Waves’ bevy of kills and blocks with one ace allowed them to hold onto the lead; although LMU played the host squad much closer throughout the set.
The win was Pepperdine’s fifth consecutive victory and improved their overall record to 13-5 and WCC record to 7-1 at press time. The Waves played at San Diego on Thursday and will play at BYU on Saturday. The group’s next home game is Oct. 25 against Santa Clara. All three teams are conference opponents.
Pepperdine’s season began with a loss to Cal Poly, a win over Butler and loss to Pittsburgh. Pepperdine beat Idaho and North Texas in the Pepperdine Asics Classic and followed that with a win over CSUN. A loss to Texas A&M was trailed by wins over Missouri State, Nicholls State, a downing by UC Irvine, and victories over Portland and Gonzaga. BYU defeated Pepperdine before the five-game winning streak began. The stack of Ws includes defeats of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Pacific and Saint Mary’s.
Wong believes Pepperdine can play better.
“We are gelling as a team,” he said. “I think we are learning a lot of things. The good teams get better as the year goes on, and we are one of the good teams.”