SAN FRANCISCO — University of San Francisco volleyball freshman McKenna Marshall set a new season high with a team-high 18 kills, and fellow rookie Victoria Grace Rogers chipped in her first career double-digit kills performance with 10, but visiting Pepperdine came out on top Thursday night in a competitive four-set match, beating the Dons, 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-15), in a West Coast Conference contest at War Memorial at Sobrato Center.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The turning point of the match came in the third set, with both teams tied at one set apiece and the Dons leading the set, 10-7, after already winning the second set. San Francisco (8-6, 1-2 WCC) was looking to grab ahold of the match's momentum, but the Waves (9-5, 3-1 WCC) denied that motion with one big run.
   
• Pepperdine scored 11 straight points in the third set to erase its three-point deficit and grab an eight-point, 18-10 advantage. The run included a stretch of six consecutive kills by the Waves, three from Rachel Ahrens, two from Hannah Frohling and another from Alli O'Harra. Pepperdine would go on to win the set, 25-20, and take a 2-1 match lead.
   
• From there, the Waves were rolling. They would win the fourth set by 10 points, 25-15, while hitting .400 in the frame and holding the Dons to just .148 hitting. A 5-1 run made their lead 16-8, and another quick 4-1 stretch made it 21-12. Pepperdine would score three of the last four points with kills from Blossom Sato, O'Harra and Ahrens to finish off the set and the match.
   
• San Francisco got back into the match in set two after dropping a tight first set. The Dons went on an 8-2 run early to take a 10-6 lead that they would never relinquish. Kills from four different Dons and a service ace from Anna Dalla Vecchia helped put the Dons ahead and eventually even the match at 1-1.
   
• The first set was the tightest of them all, featuring 11 ties and three lead changes. For the first 30 points of the set, the teams were never separated by more than two points. It took a 5-1 run by the Waves to give either team the first three-plus points lead of the set at 18-14. Even then, the Dons scored back-to-back points thanks to consecutive errors by the Waves to make it a two-point set again. But Pepperdine prevailed by scoring seven of the last 10 points riding kills from three different players and a block by Tarah Wylie and Shannon Scully.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 1: The Dons have only been swept once this season, having won at least one set in 13 of their 14 matches as they have competed in every single match they've played. For comparison, the team was swept 21 times just a year ago in 2017.
• 2: USF had two players with double-digit kills (Marshall, 18; Rogers, 10) for the first time since Sept. 8 in a five-set victory over Southern Utah. Kathya Garcia had 22 and Emily Zinger had 14 in that match.
• .328: Pepperdine's .328 team hitting percentage was the highest by any USF opponent in 14 matches this season. Before Thursday, no USF opponent had hit better than .274.

COMING UP

• The Dons host Loyola Marymount at noon on Saturday in another NorCal-SoCal WCC clash. Tickets are available for purchase on USFDons.com. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.