Pepperdine Women’s Indoor Volleyball team runs onto the court to join their six players in celebration after the final set against the University of Southern California on Sept. 19 at the Galen Center. The Waves defeated USC 3-0. Photos courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics
Pepperdine Women’s Indoor Volleyball, currently ranked No. 3 in the West Coast Conference (WCC) poll, battled against No. 19 University of Southern California on Sept. 19 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif. The Waves swept the Trojans, winning with a final score of 3-0.
Pepperdine faced USC after defeating the University of California, Santa Barbara on Sept. 18 in a 3-1 victory. Coming off the high of a home victory, the Waves went from playing in front of 658 fans at Firestone Fieldhouse — their largest home crowd since Sept. 13, 2024, and highest-attended home match against a non-ranked opponent since Nov. 11, 2023 — to taking on another strong opponent close to home, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
In the opening set against USC, Pepperdine quickly took control of the match as Maggie Beauer, junior outside hitter/opposite hitter, opened the scoring with a kill to put Pepperdine on the board. The Waves continued to quickly rack up points, leading 6-0, until the Trojans were able to find their way with a kill by Adonia Faumuina, redshirt senior outside hitter, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
The Trojans fought hard to come back from an early 6-0 Wave lead, getting within four at 13-9 following a kill by junior setter Lilli Etter. Yet, they were unable to match the pace of the Waves and fell 25-12 as Pepperdine set the tone of the game in the first set.
Maggie Beauer, junior outside hitter/opposite hitter, rises above the net to push the ball past UCS’s defensive block. Beauer was a key contributor to the match with 8 kills and 5 blocks, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
The second set proved to be more of a back-and-forth battle, but the Waves continued to make their mark on the leaderboard first. Junior outside hitter Chloe Pravednikov extended the Waves’ advantage to 16-12 after a media timeout. However, USC was quick to match each of the Waves’ points with one of their own until eventually losing momentum after the Waves scored their 20th point, leading 20-17, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Pepperdine continued to add to the scoreboard with three points in a row, two back-to-back kills from Beauer, to put the Waves up 24-18. USC fought hard to make a comeback in the second set but was unable to close the gap as the Waves took charge and sealed the second set with a score of 25-20, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Up 2-0, the Waves continued their upward trajectory and led the third set early on with a 3-0 lead. Pravednikov contributed three back-to-back kills to put the Waves up 5-2. Following Pravednikov’s lead, Pepperdine capitalized with three more points to extend their advantage with a score of 8-2. However, USC continued to fight and was eventually able to put four points on the board, three of which came from attack errors on the Waves’ side, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Despite allowing USC to close the gap by surrendering four points, the Waves continued to crash into the Trojans and battled neck-in-neck to reclaim their lead with a score of 20-15. The Waves continued to carry their momentum with three more points, pulling further ahead with a score of 23-15. With the help of junior middle blocker Ella Piskorz forcing multiple attack errors from the Trojans’ side, the Waves finished out their third and final set with a score of 25-17, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
In just three quick sets, the Waves took down USC to complete the 2026 nonconference slate.
Laine Briggs, senior defensive specialist/libero, extends her right arm in preparation to serve the ball. Briggs led the Waves with 16 digs in the match, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Beauer and Pravednikov led the Waves offensively, combining for 19 kills. Beauer also recorded five blocks, second only to senior middle blocker Irelynd Lorenzen, who posted a season-high eight. Sophomore setter Tristen Raymond paced Pepperdine with 26 assists and added two aces, trailing behind Ryan Gilhooly, sophomore outside hitter/libero’s, team-high three. Laine Briggs, senior defensive specialist/libero, anchored the defense with a match-high of 16 digs. Altogether, the Waves held the Trojans to a flat .000 hitting percentage, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
The Waves’ win over USC marked their first road sweep of a ranked opponent since Sept. 13, 2013, and their first road sweep of any opponent since defeating Gonzaga University on Nov. 6, 2025. The victory also marked Pepperdine’s first win over USC since Dec. 3, 2005, which was also the last time the Waves had swept the Trojans, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Marking a massive upset, the match also represents the Waves’ highest-ranked road victory since Sept. 15, 2022, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
The Waves will continue their journey on the road with their next match Sept. 24 against Santa Clara University at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.
This story was copy edited by Olivia Schlossin.
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Contact Genevieve Cantu via email: genevieve.cantu@pepperdine.edu