MALIBU, Calif – The San Francisco volleyball team could not hold onto the early lead at Firestone Fieldhouse as the Dons fell to Pepperdine 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.

USF junior Katarina Pilepic led the team with 15 kills, while Oluoma Okaro added 12 kills on .435 hitting and a team-high five blocks. Jurja Vlasic finished with 20 assists to pace the Dons, followed closely behind by Kiara McKibben's 19 helpers. Jessica Keenan, senior from Thousand Oaks, Calif., scooped up a season-best 11 digs playing at the libero position.

The Dons move to 15-6 (2-6 WCC) on the year as Pepperdine improves to 13-8 (4-4 WCC).

USF continued a three-match trend against the Waves and took the first set of the contest. The Dons have earned victories in the opening frame in five of the last six meetings with Pepperdine.

Pepperdine got on the board first after a kill from Nikki Lyons, but the Dons roared back to take the 7-3 advantage after Pilepic's kill, assisted by Vlasic. The Dons kept the lead for the duration of the set, stretching the advantage to five after Okaro's point put the score at 17-12.

The Waves pulled within one after Gaby Palmeri made it 22-21 in favor of the Dons, but USF earned points on three of the last four plays to jump out to the 1-0 lead in the match. USF hit .325 in the frame, their best output of the day, and six of Pilepic's kills came in the opening set.

In the second, the Dons and Waves bandied back-and-forth, seeing a tied score on eight occasions and trading the lead three times. USF held a 4-2 lead early in the action after an attack error from Gaby Palmeri, but Pepperdine rallied for the tie at four apiece and later at six and seven.

USF edged out to the 8-7 advantage after Sara Staengle's kill from the assist off the hand of McKibben, but the score was evened again at eight, and later 10 apiece. The Waves went on a 6-3 run to jump out to a 16-13 lead, but the Dons responded with three unanswered to knot the frame at 16-all on the block from Madison Murtagh and Jessica Gaffney.

After a string of four straight from the home team, the Dons called the timeout, but the Waves were at the ready, continuing with gusto to take the frame 25-19 to tie the match.

After halftime, Pepperdine leapt out to a 5-0 advantage in the third with Ashley Morgan at the serve before USF scrapped back to the lead midway through the set. With Gaffney manning the service line the Dons reeled off five straight to lead 15-13 and force a timeout for the Waves. Courtney Sabahi's kill put the score at 19-16, but Pepperdine would battle back for the 23-20 lead after the combo block denied the attempt from Okaro. Murtagh's kill late in the frame made it 24-23, but the Waves got the win on the ensuing point to nab the overall lead.

The fourth set was all Pepperdine as the Dons fell behind quickly and Pepperdine built the 10-3 lead after an ace from Lyons. The Waves would go on to take the frame 25-11 and secure the match victory, paced by 17 kills off the hand of Lyons and 14.5 total team blocks.

Next up for the Dons is a date with Saint Mary's on Thursday night. First serve from War Memorial Gym is slated for 7 p.m.