Pepperdine University
UCLA
Pepperdine Shuts Down UCLA in Three
1/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Box Score: #5 Pepperdine 3, #9 UCLA 0 
LOS ANGELES - The #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team put on a defensive clinic against #9 UCLA with 12 blocks and 40 digs, and the Waves swept the Bruins inside Pauley Pavilion 25-10, 25-20, 25-23. Josh Taylor led on both ends of the floor with 12 kills, eight digs and five blocks.
With the win, Pepperdine improves to 8-1, including a 4-1 mark in MPSF matches.
Taylor's (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) stat line was impressive in all categories. The senior earned his 12 kills at a .571 clip. He took 21 swings and did not commit a single attack error. Taylor's defensive numbers, eight digs and five blocks, both went down as season highs.
Overall, Pepperdine out-dug UCLA 40-26 and out-blocked the opposition 12.0-4.5. The Waves had 10 blocks in the books by the end of the second set before business for the Malibu Roofing Company slowed some in the third.
Brennan Anderson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar HS/Ohio State) paced the defense with 10 digs, marking his second match in double figures this season.
Reigning MPSF Player of the Week Parker Kalmbach matched Taylor's 12 kills, and collected seven digs of his own.
Matt West (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS) dished 32 assists, setting his squad to a .359 (38 kills-10 errors-78 attempts) hitting percentage. West led the defensive effort at the net with three solo blocks and three block assists.
Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany) ended the match with six kills on seven errorless swing, three aces and three blocks.
The Waves were impressive from the start, jumping out to a 5-0 advantage in the first to force an early UCLA timeout. Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn./Aaron Academy) dropped an ace out of the break, followed by a triple block, before the Bruins were finally able to sideout at 7-1. Pepperdine continued to forge ahead and put away the set unchallenged, 25-10.
The Waves' defensive showing was impressive with 4.5 blocks and 16 digs in the first frame. Anderson paced the floor with seven digs, followed by Kalmbach with four.
The Malibu Roofing Company continued to flex its muscles in set two, posting three-straight blocks to take a 5-0 lead. Although the Bruins fought back to within three, 21-18, Pepperdine's sideout game was strong when the team most needed it.
A dig by West was ran down by Taylor and sent over by Anderson. UCLA could not convert the free ball opportunity, which translated into a Kalmbach kill for the sideout at 22-18. West threw the solo roof on at set point to secure the frame 25-20.
UCLA took its first lead of the match early in the third, 6-5, and stretched it out the three points at 9-6 to prompt a Pepperdine timeout. The Waves went to Taylor out of the break, who put down kills on either side of a Bruin attack error to even to score at 9-9.
Although Pepperdine regained a small lead, UCLA tied things up at 23-23 with an ace. Kalmbach killed a ball for the sideout and match point, and Taylor took care of things with a kill.
Pepperdine continues the week on the road on Friday, Jan. 30 with a 7 p.m. match at UC Santa Barbara.
