University of San Francisco Athletics

Box Score
MALIBU, Calif. – The San Francisco women's volleyball team dispatched Pepperdine 16-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-14, 15-6 to earn its first West Coast Conference win of the season at Firestone Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.

The Waves, a perennial contender for the WCC crown and 22-time NCAA Tournament selection, were upended by a team effort that saw the duo of Valentina Zaloznik and Katarina Pilepic combine for 35 kills. The pairing of Mackenzie Murtagh and Kiara McKibben dished out 26 and 17 assists, respectively. Four Dons notched double-digit dig numbers, led by 19 from Rebecca Kopilovitch.

With the win, the Dons improve to 5-7 (1-1 WCC) on the season, while Pepperdine moves to 6-4 and is still seeking its first win in conference action. Heading into the contest with the Waves, USF had a 4-52 overall record against Pepperdine, including only one win at Firestone Fieldhouse in USF history, a 3-2 victory in 2009. Undeterred by history, the Dons added another tally in the win column, making it two in a row against the Waves.

"This is a great team win for us on the road at a place we only won once before in school history," head coach Gilad Doron said. "Val led our team from the very start till the last point, but we had so many players stepping up in different times and making great contributions today."

The Dons dropped the first set of the day after Pepperdine pounced on USF's slow start to jump out to a 16-7 lead. A block by Pilepic and Zaloznik pulled USF to within five late in the set, but the Waves scored five of the next six points to take the early match lead with the 25-16 set victory.

Pepperdine again jumped out to the early advantage in the second set, scoring the first four points before a service error gave the Dons the side out. After a four-point run of their own USF knotted the score for the first time of the day after an Ester de Vries ace dropped in to score. The tight set went back and forth with eight more ties to be seen in the frame. Anja Segota's kill to put the score at 21-20 was the eventual go-ahead point, as USF finished off the set 25-22 to knot the match.

After halftime, the Dons looked to be in control in the third set after starting on a 9-2 run. Emily Reed's kill to set the score at 18-11 was followed by an attack from Pepperdine's Katie Messing that started a 9-2 run by the Waves. Pepperdine continued to claw back in the set and tied it at 23-all after Monique Domme's serve fell to the floor in a moment of miscommunication by the Dons. The Waves went on to finish the set with a 26-24 win to edge out in front yet again.

But what could have been a turning point in favor of the home team instead became a moment of resolve for the Dons, who roared back with dominating performances in the fourth and fifth sets to take the win.

"The team said in order to win we needed all 14 players to be involved and they took it to heart, and we got a big win on the road against a great team," associate head coach Ken Ko said. "It wasn't perfect and losing a close third set could have gone the other way for us, but we stayed together. We took a huge step together as a team today and it feels good."

After Pepperdine opened the fourth set with a slim 5-3 lead, the Dons scored the next five points to grab the advantage and force a Pepperdine timeout. However, the run continued as a de Vries kill made the score 13-7 in favor of the Dons.  USF's dominant play in the frame continued as Segota's back corner kill gave the Dons an 18-10 lead and Pilepic's pounded ball to make it 20-12. The Dons won the set 25-14 and had all the momentum heading into the final frame of the day.

The fifth set was controlled by the outset from USF. With Murtagh at the serve, Zaloznik stuffed a free ball back onto the side of the Waves to give USF a 5-0 lead. A second-touch kill by Zaloznik expanded the lead to 9-2 and an ace by the junior from Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenia, gave USF their first match point of the day with the score at 14-5. Two points later, a strike by Pilepic finished the set and the match, giving the Dons their first road victory of the season.

Though many of the overall statistics point to an even match, the final two frames told the story for the Dons. In the last two sets of the day, USF outplayed the Waves with stellar attacking and stalwart defense, while taking advantage of Pepperdine mistakes. USF finished the day with a .420 attack percentage in fourth and fifth sets, compared to Pepperdine's .000 in that same period.

"I am proud of our team response and effort today," Doron said after the match. "I hope our team can look at this game as a stepping stone as we move forward to the next challenge in the WCC."

Up next, USF heads to the home Bay Area rival Santa Clara where the Dons and the Broncos will meet Thursday at 6 p.m.