Pepperdine-UCLA Box Score 
MALIBU, Calif. - Junior middle blocker Tyler Jaynes had four of his match-high 10 blocks in the decisive fifth set to help the #2 Pepperdine men's volleyball team to a 30-24, 25-30, 30-21, 23-30, 15-10 win over #7 UCLA in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Wednesday night.
Pepperdine improved to 14-6 overall and 12-5 in the MPSF, and prevented UCLA Coach Al Scates from achieving his 1,200th career win on his first attempt. The Bruins fell to 14-10, 9-8.
Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS), who leads the MPSF in blocks and is second nationally, also had nine kills. The Waves got a team-high 17 kills from junior outside hitter Cory Riecks (Auburn, Calif./Placer HS) while senior outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach (Ventura, Calif./Ventura HS) and freshman opposite Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) had 15 kills apiece.
Junior setter Kasey Crider (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) had 58 assists and nine digs while senior libero Sean Grubbs (Newport Beach, Calif./Irvine Valley CC) also contributed nine digs.
Pepperdine outhit UCLA, .378-.301, and had a 15.0-7.0 edge in blocks, while overcoming an 8-0 deficit in service aces.
The Bruins were led by Jack Polales and Brett Perrine, who had 20 kills apiece.
Although UCLA scored the first two points of the match, Pepperdine went ahead to stay at 6-4. It was just a one-point game at 12-11 when the Waves went on an 8-1 run. Seven of the points came via Bruin errors: three unforced hitting errors, two Pepperdine blocks (Jaynes was in on both) and two service errors. That made the score 20-12, and UCLA would get no closer than three at 26-23. At that point, the Waves scored four of the game's final five points, ending it on a kill by Schleppenbach. The Waves had a .440-.156 hitting edge in the first game.
The Waves carried their momentum into the start of game two as they took a five-point lead at 11-6, but it wouldn't last. The Bruins eventually tied the game at 14 after kills by Perrine and Ryal Jagd. It was still tied at 22 when UCLA scored three straight points on a kill by Perrine, a service ace by Jagd and a Wave attack error. The Bruins extended the run to 6-1 and a 28-23 lead, and eventually won the game on a kill by Garrett Muagututia. UCLA raised its hitting to .553 in the second game while the Waves were at .333.
Pepperdine never trailed in the third game and blew it open with an 8-0 run that made the score 26-15. Jaynes had a kill and two block assists during the spurt, while Schleppenbach had a kill and a block assist. The hitting figures looked a lot like the first game, as the Waves had a .484-.282 advantage. Pepperdine had just one attack error while UCLA had 12.
The Waves had a one or two-point lead for most of the first half of the fourth game, but after it was tied 16-16, the Bruins took the lead for good after kills by Muagututia and Perrine. UCLA's lead steadily grew from there, to 20-17 after a block by Nick Vogel, to 23-19 on a service ace by Jagd, to 25-20 on an ace by Vogel, and to 29-22 after two straight kills by Perrine. Hitting reverted to much like the second game, with UCLA having a .472-.257 edge.
Pepperdine got out to a great start in the fifth set and made it hold up. Jaynes had a solo block and joined with Crider on another block to push the Waves to a 3-1 lead. Schleppenbach had back-to-back kills to make it 5-2, with the second one aided by a diving fingertip dig by Grubbs. Jaynes was in on consecutive blocks again with Torres and Riecks to increase the lead to 8-3. A 3-0 run that included a kill by Jaynes, a UCLA attack error and a kill by Torres made it 12-4, and though UCLA would close the gap, Schleppenbach eventually ended the match with a kill. Hitting percentages were .429-.059 in the Waves' favor in the fifth game.
The Waves play their final regular-season home match on Saturday (April 3) against UC Irvine at 7 p.m. Pepperdine's six seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony. "Wave Casts" subscribers can watch the match online at www.pepperdinesports.com.
