MALIBU, Calif. -- Continuing their Southern California swing and riding high off five straight wins, the USF Dons volleyball team (13-10, 6-6) didn't let a slow start derail their tremendous run as they pulled off an impressive five set come-from-behind victory over the Pepperdine Waves (16-7, 7-5) at Firehouse Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

Down two sets to none early in the match, USF was able to settle into the match and secure the Southern California sweep and picked up the team's first victory over Pepperdine since the 2014 season in Malibu. Making the start up front, Claire Crijns had a tremendous performance against a tested and talented Waves team as she recorded a 21 kill and 10 block double-double as she made numerous key plays to help the Dons take home their sixth straight victory in WCC play. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• The Dons came out hot out of the gate as they raced out to a 9-5 advantage against the potent Waves thanks in part to a pair of key kills from Crijns. Pepperdine was able to regain control of the opening set as they went on to take it by a 25-19 score as they won six of the last eight points in the set.
• Pepperdine didn't wait long to try and take control of the second set and match as a whole, the Waves raced out to an 8-4 lead before the Dons were able to knot the score at nine thanks to three consecutive kills from Shyia Richardson. The Waves were able to re-take control of the set as they went up 2-0 in the match by winning the second set 25-12.
• With their backs against the wall, the Dons were able to start clawing their way back into the match. As the Waves attempted to put away USF for good leading 12-10, the Dons were able to match the home team point for point as it was knotted at 22 before USF's Crijns secured two kills and teamed up with Lauren Perri to get the set-sealing block as USF won the third set 25-22.
• Now playing with the momentum, USF rattled off five straight points thanks to kills from Orsula Staka, Crijns and a service ace from Perri. After gaining that early momentum, the Dons were able to rattle off six of the final seven points in the set as a combined block from Aylen Ayub and Staka gave the Dons' the 25-15 set victory and forced the fifth and deciding set.
• Looking to break a long streak of coming up short against the Waves, the Dons matched Pepperdine point-for-point in the early portions of the final set as a Maria Petkova kill gave USF the slight 6-5 lead early on. After a Pepperdine point cut the USF lead to just one, the Dons were able to rattle off the last five points of the match and picked up their sixth win in a row on a block from Crijins, Perri and Richardson to earn the hard fought road sweep.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Crijns once again proved to be a massive piece for the Dons up front with another double-double as she recorded 21 kills, 10 blocks, five digs and a team-high 27.5 points in Malibu on Saturday.
• Richardson has continued to blossom in her second year on the Hilltop as she recorded 15 kills, nine digs and six blocks against the Waves.
• Petrova put together a strong afternoon against Pepperdine as well as she was able to eight kills and digs to go along with one block and an ace.
• On the defensive side of the ball, Ayub was able to dig out numerous attacks from the Waves as recorded 16 digs, three kills and two blocks making the start for USF. 

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
Head Coach Diogo Silva- "We played against an amazing team today and they performed well the first two sets, but we did not five up. Our student-athletes deserve all of the credit, because we are a truly altruistic team. We work hard, with discipline as our priority, and we are improving in our consistency. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am very proud of this group and I love to coach them. Now our focus shifts to BYU as I would love to see the support from the fans in helping us compete against one of the nation's top programs."

UP NEXT:
USF will now return back home to War Memorial at the Sobrato Center to welcome BYU on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7:00 p.m. and the San Diego Toreros on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 1:00 p.m. on the Hilltop.. Live streaming and live statistics will be available via the team's schedule page.
 
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.