MALIBU, Calif. – The University of San Francisco women's volleyball team looked drastically different than the one that took the floor at Firestone Fieldhouse last night.  USF took the opening set and battled with perennial power Pepperdine all evening before falling in four sets 25-23, 29-31, 17-25, 22-25.
 
The Dons (0-2, 0-2 WCC) had a much more potent and balanced attack on Wednesday evening. USF had three players record double-digits in kills and hit over .220 as a team.  USF finished the night with 61 kills on 172 attempts with 23 errors for a .221 attack percentage. The 61 kills by the Dons are the most since they recorded 64 in a win over Gonzaga in five sets on Oct. 19, 2019.

"The Dons took a major step in their development as a team with an inspired performance against a solid Pepperdine squad," said head coach Frank Lavrisha. "Freshman Aylen Ayub ran the offense from the setter position and setup attackers McKenna Marshall (17 kills), Greta Corti (17 kills), and Valeria Alegrias Cambindo (15 kills). Anna Dalla Vecchia led the ball control effort with 17 digs and 26 receptions without any errors. Orsula Staka led the middle attack with 7 kills and 2 blocks."

USF was led by McKenna Marshall who records her second-consecutive double-double after tallying 17 kills and 14 digs.  Freshman Greta Corti had a breakout performance for the Dons.  She finished with her first career double-double and first match with double digit kills. Corti tallied 17 kills to match Marshall and picked up 12 digs.

 
Senior outside hitter Valeria Alegrias Cambindo finished the night with 15 kills, her seventh career match with double digit kills.  Orsula Staka hit a team-best .353, with seven kills on 17 attempts with one error.
 
Freshman setter Aylen Ayub had another tremendous performance, recording 45 assists with 13 digs and a service ace.  Senior libero Anna Dalla Vecchia had a team-high 17 digs, along with six assists.  
 
Pepperdine (2-0, 2-0 WCC) also finished with 61 attacks on the evening.  The difference was the Waves defense.  Pepperdine finished with eight total blocks and forced the Dons into 23 attack errors to the Waves' 16.
 
Much like they did last evening, the Dons attack got better as the match progressed. USF opened the night hitting .102.  The nine attack errors in the first set were reminiscent of the prior contest against the Waves.  With the set tied at 17 all, USF went on a 6-1 run to take a commanding 23-18 lead in the frame.  USF was able to put it away by way of a kill by Corti.
 
The following sets all fallowed a similar script.  The Dons battled but errors down the stretch helped the Waves get the win. In the second set, with the Dons had a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead when they had set point at 24-22.  However, the Waves rallied back thanks to Rachel Ahrens who had a match-high 18 kills on the evening.
 
In the second, third and fourth set the Dons kept the attack errors down and hit .236, .242, and .343 respectively. The Waves were just a bit better, hitting .241, .452, and .361 in the final three sets.
 
The Dons will return to action next week when they host Loyola Marymount for back-to-back home contests on Tuesday, February 2 and Wednesday, February 3.  Those games are slated for 6:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. starts.  Both matches will be streamed on the WCC Network with Pat Olson on the call.