Pepperdine Women’s Indoor Volleyball had a series with Hawaii on Sept. 6 and 7 for an ending record of 1-1 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Waves are now 1-3 on the season but were able to pick up their first win against the Rainbows at their stadium since 1997.
The highly anticipated annual matchup did not disappoint as both matches went to five sets and lasted over three hours each. The matches were highly attended by Hawaii and Pepperdine fans for a total of over 12,000 people for both games.
Pepperdine defeated Hawaii in their first match Sept. 6 with a score of 3-2 led by an offensive effort from senior outside hitter Grace Chillingworth had 20 kills.
The Waves came out strong in the first set with a ten-point lead on the Rainbows for a set score of 25-15, but fell short in the following two sets 25-27 and 21-25.
After losing these two sets, the Waves remained close in the fourth and ultimately had a 5-0 run with freshman Maggie Beauer’s offense and junior middle Kenadie Patterson’s blocks to end the set 25-20.
In the fifth set, Pepperdine took the momentum entirely. An immediate 5-1 run, and three kills from Chillingworth, brought them closer to a win. Lastly, senior libero Trinity Stanger and junior setter Rosemary Archer secured the 15-11 score with two aces.
In total, Chillingworth led the team with 20 kills along with Hendrickson with 14 and freshman outside hitter Chloe Pravednikov with 13.
To get these kills against the Rainbows, Archer had 28 assists and sophomore setter Brynne McGhie followed with 17.
Patterson had the team high of 8 blocks and Stanger had 14 digs to successfully defend against the Rainbows.
Although the stats in the scorebook were relatively even, the Waves had a total of seven aces against Hawaii and a .258 hitting success rate according to the box score.
After making history the first night, the Sept. 7 match was another close five sets, but the Waves fell 2-3 in the end.
For the first time in their season, Hawaii won the first set 16-25 after the Waves had a slow start. Chillingworth and Hendrickson made an effort to remain close and eventually tied 10-10, but the Hawaii defense had a few key blocks to keep them on top.
The second set was close with the score tying 13 separate times before Head Coach Scott Wong called the first timeout at a 15-18 score. Chillingworth returned to a similar groove she had the previous night, and her eighth kill of the night led to a 21-24 score.
Hawaii took the second set after a long rally with a few digs from sophomore libero Laine Briggs.
Set three was tied up for the first half until Pepperdine was able to pull away 16-13 with Hendrickson’s offense. Her energy and kills led the Waves to 22-19 before a Hawaii timeout.
Hendrickson continued this strength and got her eighth, ninth and tenth kill of the night to win the third set for the Waves. Hendrickson only had one hitting error for the third set and set the tone for the fourth.
The fourth set was a continuation of Pepperdine’s aggressive play, especially from Hendrickson and Chillingworth. The Waves had a steady lead over the Rainbows in the second half of the set.
With complete control over each play, the Waves strongly took the set 25-21 and took Hawaii to the tenth set of the weekend.
With confidence, the fifth set began with a trick play from Rosemary for 1-0 score. Hawaii then turned themselves around for a 3-5 lead, but the Waves remained close. With her 25th kill of the night, Hendrickson tied the game again at 8-8.
The Rainbows pulled away again and were able to win the final set 9-15 in a 1-7 run.
Hendrickson led the team with 25 kills and Chillingworth and Patterson had 16 and seven, respectively. Chillingworth also had a high-level defensive night tying Stanger with 19 digs.
McGhie led the Waves in assists with 31 and Archer followed with 24.
Women’s Indoor Volleyball will continue their high competition play Sept. 13 at Firestone Fieldhouse against No. 1 Pittsburgh.
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Email Megan Harkey: megan.harkey@pepperdine.edu
