SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – In a close five-set match, the University of San Francisco volleyball team (12-8, 5-3 WCC) dropped a 3-2 decision to Pepperdine (10-8, 7-1 WCC) Thursday evening at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Starting the opening set strong, Michalina Rola began the match with back-to-back kills, followed by a Pepperdine error and a Maria Petkova kill to give San Francisco an early 4-0 advantage.
• Quick to bounce back, two kills by Birdie Hendrickson, two aces by Ella Piskorz, and two errors on the Dons helped the Waves even the set at 10.
• Pepperdine strung together a 6-1 run shortly after, including two more Hendrickson kills, to build a five-point, 18-13 lead that the Waves would not give up, leading to a 25-20 set one win.
• The second set started even, with 10 ties through the first 24 points, putting the score at 12, with Rola picking up three kills and a service ace early on.
• Two errors by Pepperdine gave San Francisco a two-point lead that they would shortly maintain, but a swift 5-0 run by the Waves put them up 21-18 late in the frame.
• With the score at 23-21 favoring Pepperdine, the green and gold strung together four straight points, including two kills by Petkova, as the Dons stole the second set 25-23.
• Beginning the third set, the two squads split the first 12 points to set the score at six apiece, but another 4-0 run for the Dons, including kills from Rola and Amelia Dombrowska, gave the team a 10-6 advantage.
• Four kills by Petkova helped build the Dons' lead to six, 22-16. Pepperdine picked up back-to-back kills to narrow the deficit to four, but two more kills by Petkova and a Waves error gave the Dons a 25-18 victory in the third frame.
• Pepperdine took an early 4-3 lead to begin the fourth set, quickly erased by kills from Petkova and Hayden Goodman, along with an Abby Wadas ace to give San Francisco a 6-4 advantage.
• Service aces from Hendrickson and Rosemary Archer gave the lead back to Pepperdine, 9-8, but the green and gold quickly rallied back with an 8-3 run to balloon the Dons' lead to four, 16-12.
• Fighting back for the Waves, two kills each from Hendrickson and Grace Chillingworth helped tilt the score back in Pepperdine's favor, 21-19. Back-to-back USF kills from Rola and Delaney Ewing evened the set at 21, but three kills from Chillingworth, and an error gave the Waves the 25-21 fourth-frame victory, forcing a deciding fifth set.
• Wasting no time to begin the final set, Pepperdine strung four straight points together to take an early 4-0 lead. With the score at 7-3, the Waves put together another 4-0 run to take an 11-3 advantage.
• Ultimately, San Francisco failed to overcome the early storm from the Waves in the final frame, as Pepperdine took the fifth set and the match, 15-6.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Maria Petkova recorded her best performance in WCC play, with a season-high 19 kills and a conference-best .314 hitting percentage. Thursday's match marked the first time Petkova posted a .300 hit percentage since September 14 against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.
• Posting a 12-kill, 13-dig performance, Michalina Rola logged her first double-double of league play, and her second overall on the season.
• Following up her career-high outing on Saturday, Jolei Akima tallied 20 digs against the Waves, the second-most digs in a match in conference play.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco will have Saturday off as it prepares for a two-match road trip next week, heading to Moraga to face Saint Mary's at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31 before heading to Stockton on Saturday, Nov. 2 for a match against Pacific at noon.
 
FOLLOW US:
For more information and updates on the University of San Francisco volleyball program, be sure to follow the Dons on Twitter @USFDonsVB, @USFDonsVB on Instagram and @USFDonsVball on Facebook.
 
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SPONSOR US:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsor – San Francisco Toyota - for their continued support of San Francisco Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.