Feb. 14, 2014
Final Stats
Box Score: UC Irvine 3, Pepperdine 0 
IRVINE, Calif. - Although the #3 Pepperdine men's volleyball team out-blocked #9 UC Irvine 9-3, the Waves were unable to slow down a furious Anteater offense and fell 3-0. Parker Kalmbach produced a team-best 11 kills in the effort.
Pepperdine drops to 6-3 on the season, all league play, following the 27-25, 25-23, 25-19 loss. UC Irvine improves to 9-7, including a 6-6 mark in MPSF matches.
The Waves earned their 35 kills on a respectable .312 (35 kills-11 errors-77 attempts) hitting percentage. Unfortunately for Pepperdine, the home squad swung at a .402 (51-14-92) success rate with 51 total put aways.
Kalmbach (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro HS) finished the evening with 11 kills, three blocks and a pair of digs. Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany) put down a season-high eight kills off of 11 errorless swings.
Josh Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) and Kyle Gerrans (Lo Gatos, Calif./Valley Christian HS) tallied seven kills each.
Matt West (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS) handed out 32 assists while pacing the defense with seven digs.
UC Irvine was led by the offensive one-two punch of Zack La Cavera and Jeremy Dejno. La Cavera put down 17 kills while hitting .448 while Dejno collected his 13 kills off of a .375 clip.
Pepperdine trailed by a small handful of points for most of the first frame, but made a late run and killed off two set points to knot the score at 24. The momentum shift was short lived however, and the 'Eaters held on for the 27-25 victory.
The Waves and Anteaters went point-for-point in a closely contested set two. Tied at 19, - the ninth time in the stanza the score was balanced - UCI sided out and scored on a La Cavera kill. Pepperdine was unable to get the point back and fell 25-23.
UC Irvine jumped out to an early lead in set three and the Waves, despite a late 8-2 run, would never recover. La Cavera put down his final kill of the night to clinch the match 25-19.
Pepperdine will look to recover from its two-match skid tomorrow, Feb. 15, with a road match at UC San Diego. The Tritons are in search of their first win of the season. Live stats and video will be available for the 7 p.m. contest.
