MADISON, Wis. — Four players with double-figure kills and five players with double-figure digs propelled the Pepperdine women's volleyball team to a 3-2 win in the NCAA first round against higher-seeded Northern Iowa, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll. The Waves posted 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 20-25 and 15-13 set wins in a thrilling five-set match on Thursday night at UW Field House to advance to the NCAA second round for the ninth time in program history and first time since 2011.

The Waves (22-8) were led by senior setter Blossom Sato, who dished out 57 assists and led her team to a .242 success rate on the attack with four players in double-figure kills, including Shannon Scully (22), Hannah Frohling (16), Heidi Dyer (13) and Tarah Wylie (11).  Sato, Scully and Frohling also posted double-doubles during the match.

After a two-set lead was compromised and UNI forced a fifth set, the Waves came out with a vengeance in the fifth.  A 7-3 lead was stalled by a challenge call from the opposition that reversed a crucial point, swinging the momentum to the Panthers' side of the court and allowing the competition to tie the score at nine-apiece.  Each side exchanged points, with Pepperdine battling back from a one-point deficit at the 12-11 mark with kills from Scully and Frohling.  After a 13-13 tied score in the final moments, Dyer and Scully posted a pair of consecutive smashes to earn the Waves a 15-13 set win and the overall five-set postseason victory.

BIG WAVES
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 22 kills, .246 hitting %, 1 ace, 13 digs, 3 blocks
Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS): 16 kills, .300 hitting %, 2 aces, 10 digs, 1 block
Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS): 11 kills, .304 hitting %, 4 blocks
Heidi Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS): 13 kills, .290 hitting %, 3 digs
Blossom Sato (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS): 57 assists, 16 digs, 2 aces, 1 kill
Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou School): 23 digs, 1 ace, 40 service receptions with only 1 error
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 6 kills
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 10 digs
Jaiden Farr (Peterson, Utah/Morgan HS): 4 digs, 1 ace
 
WAVES VS. PANTHERS
The Waves posted a .242 success rate on the attack with 72 kills and 26 errors on 190 swings.  The Panthers also posted 190 attack attempts, marking 74 kills and 19 errors throughout the match, however, for a .289 clip.  This is the first match of the 2018 season that the Waves won despite having a lower hitting percentage.
 
The Waves led the court with seven aces and 82 digs, while the opposition had a match-high 10.0 blocks compared to the Waves' 4.0.  Each side of the court marked 70 assists. On the service line, the Waves marked seven aces to the Panthers' two, along with 100 service receptions on a .980 serving percentage, compared to UNI's 94 receptions on a .962 success rate on the back line.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          19         7          46         .261
2          12         5          41         .171
3          13         5          36         .222
4          16         6          38         .263
5          12         3          29         .310
TTL       72         26         190       .242
 
NORTHERN IOWA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15         4          45         .244
2          14         6          41         .195
3          17         3          38         .368
4          18         3          37         .405
5          10         3          29         .241
TTL       74         19         190       .289
 
NOTABLES

• All-time, Pepperdine leads Northern Iowa 3-1, dating back to the 2000 season when Pepperdine won the first-ever match-up in straight-sets at home. This is second match the two squads have played on neutral courts with tonight's resulting in the first Waves' win.
• Shannon Scully has posted 14 double-doubles this season, leading the Waves, including her most recent today with 22-kills and 13-digs.  She posted an impressive career-best output against Pacific on November 3, 2018 with 26-kills and 20-digs.
• Hannah Frohling has hit for double-figure kills in 18 matches this season and 58 throughout her career.  Tonight's double-double the 16^th of her career.
• Frohling is currently at the 1,058 kill-mark in her career, surpassing the 1,000-career kill mark against Hawai'i in Malibu on November 6, 2018.
• Hana Lishman has put up 22 double-figure dig matches this season, with four above 20-digs including tonight's match, and 69 in her career.
• Lishman has amassed 1,273 digs throughout her career thus far.  She leads the Waves with 3.85 digs/set and 409 digs this season.
• Blossom Sato has led the Waves in assists in all but one match this season including a career-high 59 in the home opener against Idaho.  She averages 10.84 assists/set.
• On the season, Alli O'Harra leads the Waves with 1.13 blocks/set after amassing 113 total blocks with nine solo rejections. Tarah Wylie has marked 91 total blocks, including 10 solo rejections for 0.85 blocks/set.
• Alli O'Harra had led the Waves in blocks for 17-consecutive matches at one point earlier this season, including seven of them with seven blocks or more. 

 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Despite falling behind to open the first set of the NCAA Tournament, the Waves did what they've done the past few weeks – battled back and persevered.  Pepperdine fell behind by four at the 19-15 mark, but kills from Heidi Dyer and Shannon Scully and a big block from Scully and Tarah Wylie helped to close the gap to an even 20-20 tied score.  Each side worked to a score of 22, but Pepperdine would close the set down with a kill from Alli O'Harra and a final pair of smashes from Hannah Frohling to win 25-22.
 
Pepperdine took control of the second set and maintained throughout much of the action.  After pulling ahead 13-7, the opposition started to close the gap and eventually tied the set at 19's.  Each side collected a point shortly after, but kills form Wylie and Frohling put the Waves at set-point and a final 'Malibu Roofing Company' collaboration from Scully and Wylie put the Waves ahead 2-0 with a 25-21 set win. The Waves also had five aces in the set to help the effort.
 
UNI was the team to take the lead in the third set, pulling ahead by two early on and carrying it to an eventual 25-19 set win to force a fourth set.
 
The Panthers broke out to a big start in the fourth set as well and despite a late comeback attempt from the Waves, were able to secure a 25-20 set win to extend the match to a fifth set.
 
After a late momentum in the fourth set, the Waves continued en route to the fifth set victory to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
 
NEXT UP
The Waves will face the winner of #6 Wisconsin vs. Green Bay on Friday night at UW Field House.  The match will begin at 5 p.m. PT.  Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @WavesVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @peppvolley.  Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.