Pepperdine Keeps Season Rolling Versus BYU
4/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
April 5, 2011
Match Notes 
MALIBU, Calif. - The #13 Pepperdine men's volleyball team (9-13, 5-13 MPSF) returns to Firestone Fieldhouse for a two-match series with Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe BYU (18-7, 14-6 MPSF). The first match is scheduled for Friday, April 8 at 7 p.m., while the second meeting will be contested the following evening at the same time.
IT COULD HAPPEN - Tyler Jaynes currently ranks seventh with 450 career blocks. If the senior reaches 464, he'll moved into sixth while 465 puts the senior in fifth ... Cory Riecks enters the match with 1,109 career kills to ranked 13th all time. If he reaches 1,146, he'll move into 12th place ahead of Pepperdine great Kevin Barnett ... Kasey Crider could move into second place on the Pepperdine assists leader board if he totals 109 assists this weekend.
NOTING THE WAVES - This will be the 989th and 990th match in Pepperdine history ... The Waves are 679-309 all time ... In conference play the Waves are 474-233 and 269-116 in MPSF action ... Marv Dunphy boasts a career record of 516-212 ... The Waves are 356-103 when playing inside Firestone Fieldhouse ... Cory Riecks became Pepperdine's 16th member of the 1,000 kills club against USC on Feb. 11 ... Tyler Jaynes tallied his 500th career put down at Cal State Northridge on Feb. 25. and currently ranks fourth with a career attack percentage of .427 ... Matt Pollock tagged down his 200th career kill last week at Stanford on April 2. In addition, he also reached the 100 career blocks milestone during the same match ... Kasey Crider moved up a spot on the all-time assists leader board last weekend, and currently sits in third place with 3,830 assists.
ON THE WEB — Wave Casts are new and improved for the 2011 season, offering FREE video broadcasts of all home events, as well as audio broadcasts of select road contests. In addition, live stats will also be available through Game Tracker and can be accessed at www.PepperdineSports.com. THIS WEEK: Can't make it out to Malibu? A live video broadcast, featuring Woody Quinn, as well as other Pepperdine student broadcasters, will be offered free of charge for both matches.
BYU COUGARS - BYU is currently ranked #2 by the AVCA behind an overall record of 18-7 ... The Cougars are currently in second place in the MPSF standings with a 14-6 record and are half a match ahead of Stanford ... Robb Stowell is BYU's top offensive producer, delivering 4.02 kills/set ... Taylor Sander follows with a 3.57 kill/set average ... Stowell, Joe Kauliakamoa and Cory Jones handle the majority of the back court defense, all averaging over 1.20 digs/set ... Futi Tavana averages 1.52 blocks/set and has totaled 143 rejections this season ... The Cougars only losses of the season have come to Stanford (x2), Loyola-Chicago, UC Santa Barbara, USC (x2) and Cal State Northridge.
LOOKING BACK - The Waves topped Pacific in dramatic fashion, edging the Tigers in a 3-2 victory. Maurice Torres led all hitters with 26 kills and a career-high 13 digs for his first double-double of the season. Mike McMahon contributed a career-best 16 digs to bring Pepperdine's match total to 61. Against Stanford, the Waves were able to take the second set, but were unable to put the "W" the books and lost in four. Matt Pollock finished the weekend with 18 total blocks.
THE LAST TIME - Pepperdine split the series with BYU last season, following up a 3-0 loss on March 5, 2010 with a 3-0 win the very next day. The Waves are 29-20 all-time versus the Cougars and are 18-7 when playing BYU at home.
CAN YOU DIG IT? - Pepperdine's defense was nearly impenetrable on April 1 at Pacific. Four Waves reached double-digit dig totals, led by Mike McMahon's 16 to bring the team's overall total to 61. That number ranks tied for fourth in the single-match Pepperdine rally scoring era record book. The most digs any Pepperdine squad has tallied in a single match was 67, recorded at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 31, 2007.
TIGER TAMERS - The Waves shined in every facet of their play versus Pacific on April 1. Maurice Torres upped his season-high kill total to 26, and set a new career high with 13 digs. In addition, he is the first student-athlete to record the kills-digs double-double this season. Tyler Jaynes improved his season-best marks in kills and hitting percentage to 12 and .800, respectively. Kasey Crider posted an assists-digs double-double (63-11) while Mike McMahon improved his single-match best to 16 digs.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked 13th on the latest installment of the AVCA Coaches Poll.
| 1/5 | 1/10 | 1/17 | 1/24 | 1/31 | 2/7 | 2/14 | 2/21 | 2/28 | 3/7 | 3/14 | 3/21 | 3/28 | 4/4 |
| #3 | #3 | #6 | #8 | #11 | #11 | #9 | #9 | #11 | #13 | #13 | #13 | #13 | #13 |
PEPPERDINE IN THE MPSF RANKS - Matt Pollock ranks sixth in hitting percentage (.409) ... Kasey Crider averages 10.86 assists for sixth ... Maurice Torres tallies a fourth-best 4.73 points/set and a fifth-best 4.05 kills/set ... Torres ranks fifth with ..37 service aces/set ... Mike McMahon ranks ninth with a 1.96 digs/set average ... As a team, Pepperdine boasts the ninth-highest attack percentage (.274) and the seventh highest assists (12.24) average ... The Waves rank seventh in blocks (2.22), seventh in kills (12.80), sixth in digs (8.29), 11th in service aces (..88) and 11th in opponent hitting percentage (.312).
BYU IN THE MPSF RANKS - The Cougars rank third in the MPSF with a .336 hitting percentage ... BYU ranks second in blocks (2.89), first in service aces (1.37), fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.282), fifth in kills (13.29), sixth in assists (12.24) and last in digs (7.44) ... Individually, Futi Tavana leads the league with a 1.52 blocks/set average and third with a .459 hitting percentage ... Robb Stowell ranks sixth with 4.62 points/set and 4.02 kills/set ... Taylor Sander averaged 4.38 points/set to rank ninth and .45 service aces/set to rank second.
LOOKING AHEAD - The Waves host UC Santa Barbara on April 14 and UCLA on April 16 to wrap up the year. Seniors Kasey Crider, Cory Riecks, Tyler Jaynes, and Sean Pedersen will all be recognized during the final match for their years of service to the men's volleyball program.
SEASON CUT SHORT - Pepperdine University recently discovered that it had failed to properly administer financial aid awards to a number of its student-athletes, in accordance with NCAA regulations. As a result of these errors, the University feels it would be inappropriate for specific teams, including men's volleyball, to participate in postseason competition this academic year. Student-athletes will still be put into consideration for postseason awards.
STREAKING - Tyler Jaynes has tallied at least one block in every start of the season (17 total) ... Mike McMahon has tallied six or more digs in 10 of the last 11 contests and has reached double digit dig totals in the last two ... Matt Pollock has posted at least five blocks in four of the last six matches and had nine rejections in two-consecutive contests ... Cory Riecks has reached double-digit kill totals in four of the last six matches.
MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Beau Vandeweghe became the Waves' first MPSF Player of the Week this season on Feb. 14 after his stellar performance in the 3-2 win over top-ranked USC on Feb 11. Since 2006, the Waves have been awarded player of the week on 21 occasions. Active players who have received the recognition are Maurice Torres (twice, last on Mar. 15, 2010), Cory Riecks (twice, last on Feb. 22, 2010), Tyler Jaynes (once, Feb. 1, 2010), and Kasey Crider (twice, last on Mar. 20, 2009).
Marv Dunphy — Now in his 28th season as head coach of the Waves, Marv Dunphy has time and again proven himself to be one of the top teachers in the sport. He has directed Pepperdine to four NCAA championships, each in a different decade (1978, 1985, 1992, 2005). He was the 2005 National Coach of the Year and is a three-time MPSF Coach of the Year. He entered the 2011 season with a career record of 507-199 (.717). Dunphy has long been involved with USA Volleyball, having been part of the coaching staff at five Olympics, including head coach of the 1988 team and consultant coach for the 2008 squad, both of which won gold. He has been inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame (1994), AVCA Hall of Fame (2009) and the Pepperdine Athletics (2010).
MPSF PRESEASON POLL - The Waves were chosen to finish fourth the Mountain Pacific Sports Federations preseason coaches' poll. USC and UC Irvine tied for the top spot, followed by Stanford in third place. After Pepperdine the fifth through 12th place slots were occupied by BYU, Hawaii, UCLA, UCSB, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, Pacific and UC San Diego, respectively.
ROSTER — The Waves return four starters to the lineup including Kasey Crider, Tyler Jaynes, Cory Riecks and Maurice Torres. Six letterwinners and two redshirts are joined by eight newcomers (seven freshmen, one sophomore) to bring the squad total to 20. A balance of veterans and rookies are likely to make up this year's starting lineup, with seniors Crider, Jaynes and Riecks leading the way. In terms of athletic eligibility, the squad breakdown includes five seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, and eight freshmen.
2010 RECAP — It was another solid year for the Pepperdine men's volleyball team. Kasey Crider earned AVCA All-American first team honors while Cory Riecks was named to the second team. Additionally, Riecks made the All-MPSF first team, while Crider was placed on the second team. J.D. Schleppenbach, who finished his eligibility in 2010, made the third team, and Tyler Jaynes was awarded an honorable mention. Maurice Torres rounded out the MPSF accolades with an appearance on the all-freshman squad. As a team, the Waves finished tied for fourth in the MPSF while concluding the season ranked T-5th by the AVCA.
TICKETS — Single-match tickets to all home men's volleyball games are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free to all Pepperdine students and faculty with a university ID.
PEPPERDINE TWEETS — To receive all the latest up-to-date information on the Waves, follow the Pepperdine Athletics Twitter at www.twitter.com/peppsports
VOLLEYBALL HISTORY — Pepperdine has won five NCAA men's volleyball championships, second only to UCLA. The Waves have won the MPSF Tournament four times and have won or shared nine regular-season conference titles. Pepperdine has won either an MPSF regular-season or tournament title in seven of the last 12 seasons. The Waves have finished in the top six in the final AVCA poll in each of the last 13 seasons. Pepperdine student-athletes have won national player of the year honors eight times and All-American accolades 75 times. A Pepperdine alum has competed for the U.S. at the Olympics every time since 1984 (Sean Rooney won gold in 2008).
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports — one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
