Stockton, Calif. - Behind an nearly impenatrable defense, the Tiger volleyball team thrashed the visiting Waves of Pepperdine, 3-0, on Saturday, Sept. 27, to earn their 10th-straight win. The victory for the Tigers ran their record to 13-2 on the year and 2-0 in the WCC while the Waves fell to 6-8 on the season and 1-1 in conference action.

Set scores for the match were: 25-13, 25-13, 25-16.

Coming off of arguably their biggest victory of the season on Thursday night, the Tigers put together one of their most dominant performances of the year to dismantle an overmatched Wave side. Behind the WCC's top defense, the Tigers held the Waves to .000 (23-23-127) attacking in the match as Pepperdine became the fifth team Pacific has held to .000 or below hitting in 15 matches.

Starting fast and never letting up, the Tigers swallowed the Waves early in the opening set behind a 10-0 run that put Pacific ahead 13-3. From that point on, Pepperdine could gain no traction against the Tigers' defense as the lead never shrunk below seven the rest of the way. Early, the Tigers made a point to get their middles involved in the offense after forgetting about them in the previous match. The move paid immediate dividends as senior Gillian Howard dominated early with four kills during the 10-point run while adding three blocks in the set as well.

With the block getting its hands on nearly every Wave attack, the Tigers held Pepperdine to -.082 hitting in the first frame thanks in part to the back-line defense led by freshman Katrin Gotterba. In a short set, Gotterba tallied 10 digs while the team came up with 26 overall to compliment five team blocks.

Behind a balanced attack in the second set, the Tigers again cruised to a quick victory and a commanding 2-0 lead. Up just two at 10-8, the Tigers rallied off six-straight points courtesy of junior Kat Schulz' serve that allowed Pacific to double-up the Waves and take firm control of the set. Schulz' serve was also the catalyst for the first-set run that buried Pepperdine as she found a way to contribute heavily even when she was not at her sharpest offensively. The Tigers closed out the set by scoring 15 of the final 20 points to earn their second-straight 12-point victory.

Early in the set, sophomore Lexi Elman led Pacific's offensive attack as she tallied all four of her set kills in the first 14 points of the frame before making her first mistake on her 21st swing of the contest. As a team, the Tigers posted their best hitting performance of the day in the second set by hitting .379 with just two errors.

With a chance to pick up their ninth sweep of the year, Pacific scored the first five points of the third set and lead 10-3 before the Waves could take a breath. The Waves would close to within six points late before the Tigers put the match away for good with a handful of points. In the set, Schulz came up with four kills on 10 attacks while sophomore Alicja Wilk cleaned up the garbage at the net for an easy three kills and two blocks. 

Wilk ended her day in the middle with eight kills on 14 swings to hit .571 while adding four blocks. Elman led the way offensively with 11 kills as the only attacker in the match to record double-digits. Both Howard and Schulz ended the day with seven kills while sophomore Anne-Sophie Bauer chipped in six on .357 attacking. 

Defensively, the Tigers came up with 13.0 team blocks led by Howard's match-best five. Elman added four including a career-best two solo efforts while Schulz put up four blocks as well. Junior setter Kimmy Whitson added three blocks and three kills while serving up 14 assists. Freshman Andie Shelton came up with her second-career double-double after tallying 14 assists and tying her career best for digs with 12. Gotterba finished with 15 digs, one back of Schulz who posted 16, while junior Mia Feiner added 10 to go along with a pair of aces.

The Tigers head to Santa Clara on Tuesday, Sept. 30 to take on the Broncos in an early midweek contest. Pacific will attempt to take its 11th-consecutive match as they face the Broncos at 6:00 pm at the Leavey Center.