STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific volleyball program rode a strong defensive effort in the first set to a lead, but faltered in the remaining three sets against Pepperdine, falling in four (25-23, 15-25, 18-25, 18-25) Saturday afternoon at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

The Tigers (7-13, 1-8 WCC) got out to a quick start on the defensive side of the court, forcing Pepperdine (13-7, 7-2 WCC) into 12 attacking errors and five service errors as the Waves hit in the negatives as a team in that first set. Pacific also cashed in on Pepperdine's defensive errors as well, serving up three service aces, including one from senior Jayhlin Swain who reached 100 career aces during the match.

After that first set the team had to rely on more traditional offense to score points, which meant featuring graduate Olivia Keller and her match high 11 kills. Freshman Ella Gridley also was a major source of offense, finishing with three aces in the first action of her career. Meanwhile Sophomore Alyson Cox finished with 23 assists as the team's featured setter through all four sets.

Cox was also one of the premier student-athletes defensively as her ten digs gave her her fourth double-double of the season. Her ten digs, however, was not the mark that led the team as that honor went to Swain and her 16 digs. The Tigers block had a successful afternoon preventing more opportunities for digs with senior Logan Blutreich garnering three solo blocks while Cox and graduate Valentina Varani each tabbed two solo blocks.

Varani has caught fire blocking over the last four matches, registering a solo block in each match and multiple solo blocks in the last three contests.

After playing the last seven matches at home, the program will hit the road for its next two, touring the state of Washington for a match with Washington State on Thursday and Gonzaga on Saturday. Thursday's match is scheduled for 7 p.m. while Saturday is set for noon, both will be on ESPN+.

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