March 16, 2012
Final Stats
#2 UCLA 3, #7 Pepperdine 0 Box Score 
LOS ANGELES - The #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team out-killed #2 UCLA 46-39, but attack errors proved costly as the Waves dropped a 3-0 decision on Friday night inside the Wooden Center.
Although Pepperdine was unable to take a set, each frame played out extremely close as evidence by the 16 lead changes and 40 total occasions the score was tied. The Bruins fought their way to sets win scores of 25-18, 31-29, 26-24.
Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) led all hitters with 15 kills, while Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) followed with 14.
Matt West (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS) dished 41 assists while chipping in five blocks on the defensive end. Matt Pollock (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg HS) and Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) followed with four roofs apiece.
UCLA (19-4, 13-3 MPSF) was led by Thomas Amberg, who tallied nine kills on 10 errorless attack, in addition to four aces and four blocks.
UCLA and Pepperdine (11-10, 7-9 MPSF) played tug-of-war in the opening points of set one, as both teams struggled to build a sizable lead. Tied 7-7, the Bruins pieced together a 4-1 run and maintained a .524 hitting percentage to tip the momentum in their favor as they claimed the opener 25-18.
The Waves built a 14-12 lead in the second stanza, but UCLA fought back to take a 17-15 advantage and prompt head coach Marv Dunphy to call for a break in the action. The teams continued to battle back and forth until the Waves found themselves up set point 24-23. The Bruins erased it along with two more set points before taking a 27-26 lead themselves.
The Waves came up with several great saves to kill three set points, but on set point No. 4, Kene Izuchukwu came up with a solo rejection to clinch the stanza for his team, 31-29.
While the narrow loss was heartbreaker, Pepperdine continued to fight diligently in set three. From the very first point, the score would teeter-totter back in fourth and neither team was able to build a lead greater than two points.
The Bruins earned their biggest lead of the set when an attack by Taylor was ruled out of bounds, having just missed the line. Down 24-21, Taylor came back with a kill to give the Waves the sideout. A hitting miscue by Weston Dunlap followed by a tandem block by West and Tarantino would knot things up at 24, but UCLA was able to tally the final two points to win 26-24.
The Waves finished the night hitting .276 (46-22-87), while the Bruins countered with a .346 (39-12-78) clip.
Next up for Pepperdine is a nonconference tangle with George Mason on Saturday, March 24 inside Firestone Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.
