Final Stats

Box Score: #4 Pepperdine 3, #6 BYU 2

MALIBU, Calif. - The #4 Pepperdine men's volleyball team relied on its heavy-hitting offense to power its way to a thrilling five-set victory on Friday night vs. #6 BYU. Five Waves surpassed the 10 kills mark, led by senior outside hitter Josh Taylor with a match-high 20.

The five-set affair saw four sets decided by just two points, with two going beyond the 25-point mark. Final scores were 23-25, 26-24, 25-27, 25-13, 15-13 in favor of the Waves.

With the win, Pepperdine improves to 16-4 on the year and now stands alone in third place in the MPSF behind a record of 11-4. The Cougars, 13-6 overall, were relegated to a fourth-place 10-5.

The Waves delivered arguably their best offensive performance of the season, sending home 78 kills while hitting .403 (78 kills-18 errors-149 attacks). It was the highest kill total for Pepperdine since the 2010 season, when sets were being played to 30 instead of 25. Matt West (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS) guided the offense with a career-high 68 assists.

Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) paved the way with 20 kills, and fell just one dig short of the double-double with nine.

Both Parker Kalmbach (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro HS) and Scott Rhein (Pleasant View, Tenn./Aaron Academy) produced kills-digs double-doubles. Kalmbach knocked down 16 - including the match-clinching kill in set five - while adding a season-high 12 digs. Rhein extended his career-high in both kills and digs, 15 and 16 respectively, for his collegiate-first double-double.

Mitchell Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) etched his name into the program record book for his highly efficient offensive showing. The lone sophomore in the lineup earned 11 kills off of 13 errorless swings for an .846 clip - ranking in at fourth place in Pepperdine's single-match records (rally scoring era only).

The fifth Wave to reach doubles figures was Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany) with 10 kills and no errors, hitting a season-best .667 (10-0-15).

BYU held the edge in blocking, 9-5-4.0, but did not have any roofs in sets four or five.

Jake Langlois paced the Cougars with 18 kills, followed by Phil Fuchs with 11. Libero Jaylen Reyes was a solid defender with 16 digs.

It was a battle from the beginning with just two points separating the teams in the first three sets. BYU gained the 25-23 edge in the first with the help of its block, while the Waves rallied back from a 16-20 deficit in the second to win 26-24.

The Cougars jumped out to an early lead in the third, going ahead by as much as six, before Pepperdine once again bounced back to tie the frame at 16-16. BYU went on a late 5-0 run to turn the momentum back in its favor, and held on to win 27-25.

Set four was all Pepperdine and then some. Paced by a perfect 5-for-5 effort on the attack by Tarantino, the Waves chalked 17 kills off of 24 swings for a sizzling .667 clip. The home squad limited BYU to just eight kills in route to the 25-13 triumph to send the match to a fifth and final set.

The tug-of-war fifth frame saw the Cougars take an 8-6 lead before the Waves strung together a 6-2 run to go out in front 12-10. BYU got back on serve, 13-13, thanks to back-to-back kills by Fuchs and Carson Heninger, but Kalmbach was there for the sideout to take match point, 14-13.

Fuchs took a swing in an attempt to save match point, but Brennan Anderson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar HS/Ohio State) was there for the well-controlled dig. West then went to the go-to arm of Kalmbach. His attack bounced back off the BYU blockers and behind him, well out of bounds and out of reach to secure the point, set and match, 15-13.

Anderson finished the night with nine digs.

The Waves go for the series sweep against BYU tomorrow, March 21. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and can be watched live on WaveCasts.