Pepperdine University
BYU
BYU Ices Pepperdine's Hot Start to Win 3-1
4/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
April 8, 2011
Box Score 
MALIBU, Calif. - After an explosive Pepperdine start, BYU came back to win 3-1. The #13 Waves claimed the first frame 25-18, before the Cougars, sitting at #2 on the AVCA Coaches' Poll, won the next three by scores of 25-21, 25-19 and 25-18.
Taylor Sander led all hitters with 20 kills. On the Pepperdine side of the net, Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif./Orange Lutheran) paced the team with 13 kills, followed by Cory Riecks (Auburn, Calif./Placer HS) and Chase Ross (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad HS) who each tallied 11.
On defense, Ross and Mike McMahon (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita HS) totaled eight digs apiece, while Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) finished the evening with five blocks.
The Waves (9-14, 5-14 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) opened the match on a 3-1 run and would not give up the lead the entire stanza. A kill courtesy of Torres put Pepperdine up 13-7 to prompt BYU to try to break up the momentum with a timeout. With Pepperdine hitting a sizzling .344 (15 kills, 4 errors, 32 attempts), the Cougars were unable to erase the deficit and succumbed to a 25-18 loss. Torres led all hitters with five kills, while BYU only broke even with eight kills and eight errors.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair featuring 12 tie scores. Tied at 11, BYU (19-7, 14-6 MPSF) pieced together a 5-1 run to gain the biggest lead by either team of the game. Sean Pedersen (Evergreen Park, Ill./Mount Carmel HS/Cal State Northridge) put an end to the run with a kill and a solo block on back-to-back points to bring the Waves back within two.
After Octavio Souza put another point on the board for the Cougars, the Waves threatened to take back control of the match with two-straight points punctuated by a tandem rejection by Matt Pollock (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg HS) and Riecks. After sideouts by both teams, the score was tied at 20 but a 4-0 BYU run would give the visitors the edge. Ross erased one set point with a kill, but the Cougars scored on the next play to tie the match at one.
Pepperdine did all it could in the third set, hitting a solid 14 kills earned on a .367 hitting percentage. BYU trumped those stats with 20 kills on 29 swings and just one error for a .655 clip. The Cougars' only block of the frame put the 25th point on the board, and a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.
The teams traded points to open the final stanza. Tied at 11, BYU would build a three point lead and control the pace of the match from there on out. Down 24-16, a Cougar miscue at the service line would set up Petersen for an ace but the deficit was too much to overcome as Sander tagged down the final kill of the match.
Kasey Crider (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) dished 43 assists in addition to six digs and three blocks. Pollock tallied four blocks and eight kills on 14 swings and no errors to finish the night hitting .571.
A rematch between Pepperdine and BYU is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. inside Firestone Fieldhouse.
