PITTSBURGH – Butler moved to 0-2 on the young season after taking a 3-0 setback on a neutral court vs. Pepperdine (25-20, 25-17, 25-18). The Waves had five players with seven or more kills.
 
Butler's offense came from Natalie Ravenell, Brooke Gregory and Bri Lilly. Ravenell was in the box score with a team-high 10 kills. She added three digs and two blocks while hitting at a .308 clip.
 
Gregory and Lilly tied for the second-best kill total on the team with eight. Lilly worked the middle of the court to hit .500. Her eight kills came with just one error off 14 attempts.
 
Setter Maddie Freiwald ended the match with 24 assists and seven digs. BU's dig leader was senior Taylor Takeda with eight.
 
Freiwald also supplied the Bulldogs with four blocks at the net. Melody Davidson was the team leader in that category with seven total.
 
The Waves went on a timely 4-0 scoring run in the first set to claim a 25-20 win. The scoreboard moved from 18-17 to 22-17 in crunch time. Ravenell would stop the run with a kill off a Freiwald assist, but the Waves would move forward with a 1-0 lead after a game-winner from Hannah Frohling.
 
Pepperdine jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set and would double Butler up at 8-4. The advantaged moved to 12-6 at the halfway point and the Waves would never look back to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
 
The third set featured a 5-0 scoring run that moved the scoreboard to 9-3 in favor of Pepperdine. Butler was not able to fully recover which resulted in the 25-18 setback.
 
The 'Dawgs will return to action later this afternoon with a 4 PM match against #24 Cal Poly.