STOCKTON, Calif. – After picking up its 10th win of the season, the Pacific volleyball team returns to action as the team travels to face off against nationally-ranked Pepperdine on Thursday, Oct. 6, followed by a matchup at Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Oct. 8.
The Tigers (10-6, 2-2) jumped back into winning mode last week, earning a straight-set victory over Saint Mary's at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Biamba Kabengele led the team in kills during the contest, tallying a game-high 16 as she continued her offensive dominance at the start of conference play. Recording her fourth-straight match with double-digit kills, Kabengele now ranks third in the conference, tied with teammate Alexa Edwards, with 63 kills in conference matches.
Edwards, who tallied her team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs in the win over the Gaels, ranks second in the conference in total kills with 247. The junior from Sacramento, Calif., ranks in the top five in multiple statistical categories within the conference sphere, including kills per set and service aces per set.
Tallying 853 kills through 16 matches this season, the Tigers have been an offensive juggernaut, leading the conference and ranking 22nd nationally in total kills while ranking second in the conference with a kills per set ratio of 13.54. Tallying 11 service aces in the win over the Gaels, the Tigers also rank 14th in the country in that category with 118.
In the first match of the week, Pacific faces off against its first-ranked opponent of the season, taking on #20 Pepperdine at the Firestone Fieldhouse. The nationally-ranked Waves enter Thursday's contest with a record of 12-4 and sit in fourth place in the conference standings with a 3-2 record.
The Waves, currently on a three-match winning streak, have seen success through the first 16 contests of the season, defeating multiple high-end teams, including #9 Baylor, #13 Washington, and #6 Minnesota, during non-conference play.
Four talented offensive players lead the team in Meg Brown, Grace Chillingworth, Emily Hellmuth, and Rachel Ahrens, who have combined for 631 of the Wave's 799 kills this season. Brown leads the team with 165 kills, while Chillingworth and Hellmuth have tallied 161 and 160, respectively.
The Tigers have accumulated 15 wins over the Waves since the first-ever meeting in 1978, including a five-set victory at the Alex G. Spanos Center last season. The win over the nationally-ranked Waves on October 10, 2021, was one of two victories the Tigers had over ranked opponents last season.
Following the matchup against the Waves, the Tigers take the short trip to Los Angeles to face off against Loyola Marymount at the Gersten Pavilion. After dropping the first two conference matches of the season to San Diego and BYU, the Lions (8-6, 3-2) have won three-straight contests, including a five-set victory at San Francisco on Saturday, Oct. 1.
Kari Geissberger leads the Lions offensively, recording a team-high 155 kills and registering a kills per set ratio of 3.04. Defensively, Phoebe Awoleye leads the team with 71 blocks and ranks first in the conference in blocks per set, registering 1.39 in 51 sets played.
The Tigers have been victorious through the years against the Lions, accumulating 12 wins since the 2007 season. Last season, the Tigers earned a series split with the Lions, falling in five sets at the Alex G. Spanos Center before taking down the Lion on the road, 3-1, later in the season.
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