Pepperdine Faces Hawaii in MPSF Semifinals on Thursday
4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. - The #5-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball continues postseason action this week with the final rounds of the MPSF Tournament. The Waves, seeded third, will face second-seeded Hawaii on Thursday at 5 p.m. inside the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine. A win would send Pepperdine to Friday's final, where the team will face the winner of the [1] UC Irvine-[4] USC semifinal.
MATCH 29 - #5 Pepperdine (23-5, 17-5 MPSF) vs. #3 Hawaii (24-5, 18-4 MPSF) | Thursday, April 30 | 5 p.m. | Irvine, Calif.
MPSF TOURNAMENT FINAL - [3] Pepperdine/[2] Hawaii vs. [1] UC Irvine/[4] USC | Friday, May 1 | 7 p.m. | Irvine, Calif.
LOOKING AHEAD - The NCAA will announce the six tournament-bound teams at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 2 via a selection show that will air on NCAA.com ... Four automatic bids will go to the conference tournament winners of the MPSF, MIVA, EIVA and Conference Carolinas, leaving two at-large bids up for grabs.
COVERAGE - Thursday's semifinal will be aired on OC Sports and online at OCSports.tv ... The stream is free, but does require users to log in and register ... Live stats coverage will be provided by UCIrvineSports.com ... Friday's final will also be streamed online.
TICKETS - Admission to the MPSF Tournament in Irvine is $10 for adults and $5 for children 6-17 and students with a valid ID. Visit http://gowav.es/1JvemRj to purchase your tickets in advanced.
LOOKING BACK - With the loss to UC Santa Barbara in the regular-season finale still fresh in their minds, the Waves got off to a strong and fast start in the rematch last week Saturday in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals ... Pepperdine out-blocked UC Santa Barbara 13.5-5.0 overall, including a 6.5-0 advantage in set three alone ... Scott Rhein and Parker Kalmbach led the offense with 12 kills apiece ... Josh Taylor picked up a career-high 15 digs, while Matt Tarantino scored seven blocks at the net ... The Waves held UCSB to just a .120 team hitting percentage, while swinging .264 themselves.
LOOKING FURTHER BACK - Pepperdine got off to a slow start against a fired-up UC Santa Barbara team on April 15, and was unable to recover ... The Waves were already a lock for the No. 3 seed in the MPSF Tournament, while the Gauchos' postseason fate at the time ranged from a No. 4-7 seed ... UCSB won 3-1 to snap the Waves' 20-match home win streak ... Josh Taylor had 15 kills, while Parker Kalmbach posted 14.
OPPONENT NOTES - Hawaii is 24-5 on the season ... The Rainbow Warriors won 16 in a row before dropping back-to-back matches to BYU in Provo, Utah to conclude the regular season ... UH swept Long Beach State 25-19, 26-24, 27-25 in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals at home ... Taylor Averill ranks No. 1 in the MPSF for his hitting percentage (.491) and second in blocks (1.31) ... Three players ranked in the top-15 in the MPSF in kills, including Brook Sedore (6th, 3.42), Sinisa Zarkovic (8th, 3.18) and Averill (14th, 2.90).
NOTING THE WAVES - Pepperdine will play in its 1,102nd match in program history on Thursday ... The Waves are officially 685-349 all time ... In conference play the Waves are officially 482-270 and 277-153 in MPSF action ... Marv Dunphy boasts an official career record of 522-252 (unofficially 588-253) ... The Waves are officially 368-116 when playing inside Firestone Fieldhouse ... Pepperdine is 41-30 all-time vs. Hawaii, but an even 3-3 when facing the Warriors on a neutral court.
MPSF TOURNAMENT HISTORY - Pepperdine is making its 21st appearance in the MPSF Tournament since 1993 ... The Waves are 24-16 all-time at the tournament ... Pepperdine is 16-4 at the MPSF Tournament when playing inside Firestone Fieldhouse ... The Waves are 6-3 when playing as the No. 3 seed ... Pepperdine won the MPSF Tournament in 1998 as the No. 3 seed ... The Waves are 2-2 vs. UH in the MPSF Tournament ... Both losses happened in Honolulu ... The Waves are 1-1 vs. UC Irvine and 1-2 vs. USC at the MPSF Tournament ... Pepperdine reached the finals three years in a row from 2007-09.
CHECK THE RECORD - Senior Josh Taylor enters this week with 1,388 kills, ranking in at #10 in Pepperdine program history ... Taylor surpassed Randy Bergstedt (1,352, 1986-89) on April 4 vs. Cal Baptist ... Taylor began the 2015 season in 17th place ... Geoff Hart (1988-90) ranks ninth in front of Taylor with 1,391 kills ... Senior Matt West charted his 4,000th career assist vs. UC San Diego (2/20) and now has 4,671 helpers to his credit ... He is just the second player in program history to meet the 4,000 assists milestone, joining all-time assists leader Jonathan Winder (2005-08) ... Winder holds the No. 1 spot with 5,118 ... West began the season ranked sixth on the all-time charts ... West has also moved up considerably on the all-time digs list ... He opens this week with 673 digs, good enough for fifth all-time ... Matt Rigg (1984-87) and J.D. Schleppenbach (2006-10) are in a tie for third with 692 digs ... West began his senior season with 513 digs, well outside the top-10 in the program records.
POSTSEASON AWARDS: The 2015 All-MPSF Team was announced on April 23 ... The Waves led the MPSF with six selections ... Josh Taylor, Matt West and Parker Kalmbach were placed on the first team, while Matt Tarantino and Brennan Anderson snagged second-team acclaim ... Scott Rhein picked up an honorable mention ... Off the Block blog announced Matt West as the co-winner of the Lloy Ball Award, along with USC's Micah Christianson, going to the top setter in the NCAA ... Off the Block will continue to unveil its award winners this week ... Parker Kalmbach is a finalist for the Bryan Ivie Award (best opposite), with the winner announced on Wednesday. Josh Taylor was a finalist for the Karch Kiraly Award (best outside hitter), with Penn State's Aaron Russell taking top honors ... AVCA All-Americans will be announced next Monday, May 4.
KALMBACH - Senior opposite Parker Kalmbach spent most of his offseason away from the gym, resting, rehabbing a lingering back issue and working at his internship ... He is the only player in the MPSF averaging over 4.0 kills/set and leads the league in kills (4.10) and points (4.60) ... He returned to the gym in December, and while his early season numbers were average as he got back in form, Kalmbach began to hit his stride against Long Beach State (1/24) ... The opposite put down a career-high 24 kills while hitting .564 and was named the MPSF Player of the Week (1/26) as a result ... Kalmbach averaged 2.61 kills, hitting .246 in the first seven matches of the season, prior to the LBSU contest, and has charted 4.44 kills while hitting .360 (21 matches) since ... Kalmbach was an All-MPSF honorable mention as a middle blocker in 2013 after playing intermittently on the outside as a freshman ... He was an All-MPSF second team pick in 2014 as an opposite behind 3.47 kills and 1.43 digs, and a first-team honoree in 2015 ... Kalmbach earned his first double-double of the year vs. UC San Diego (2/20) with 14 kills and 10 digs and has a team-high five on the year ... The senior earned three consecutive double-doubles in matches vs. BYU and Long Beach State ... He has surpassed the 20 kill mark in seven matches in 2015 ... He is a top-three finalist for the Bryan Ivie (best opposite) Award, presented by Off the Block.
WEST - Senior setter Matt West is in his fourth year managing the Waves' offense ... West took over second place on the all-time charts vs. UC San Diego (2/20) with his second assist of the match ... He also met the 4,000 career assists milestone, becoming just the second Wave ever to achieve the feat ... He currently ranks fifth in program history for his career digs total ... West is a two-time AVCA All-American (first team in 2013, second team in 2014) ... West ranked second in the NCAA and the MPSF as a freshman with an assists average of 11.38 ... Led the nation as a sophomore with 11.25 assists/set ... Ranked third in the league and eighth in the NCAA with a 2014 average of 11.00 ... Averaged 1.40 and 1.41 digs, respectively, in 2012 and 2013, before collecting 2.12 digs in 2014 as a junior ... Four-time MPSF Player of the Week and earned his first AVCA National Player of the Week nod on March 24, 2015 ... Three-time All-MPSF first team performer, honorable mention as a freshman ... As a senior, he is averaging an MPSF-best 11.25 assists (3rd in NCAA), 0.39 aces (T-4th in MPSF), 0.69 blocks and 1.58 digs ... West was voted MPSF and AVCA Player of the Week (3/23 & 24) after the Waves averaged a .388 hitting percentage in wins over Harvard and BYU twice. He averaged 13.77 assists per set in the three matches ... Lloy Ball Award co-winner (best setter), presented by Off the Block.
TAYLOR - Senior Josh Taylor is in his fourth year starting on the outside pin ... He ranked second on the squad in kills (both years behind opposite Maurice Torres) as a freshman and sophomore with averages of 3.52 and 3.08, respectively ... He paced the Waves, ranked fourth in the MPSF and seventh nationally in kills in 2014 with a 4.01 average, and was an AVCA All-American second team pick ... His digs average climbed from 0.98 as a freshman to 1.60 as a senior ... He's currently averaging 3.60 kills and 4.11 points as a senior ... Taylor posted his sixth career double-double vs. UCLA (4/7) with 10 kills and 12 digs ... He transitioned from an opposite in high school, to a primary passer and outside hitter while at Pepperdine ... Taylor was honored as the MPSF Player of the Week (3/16) for the first time in his career after helping the Waves rally back from an 0-2 deficit to beat UC Irvine (3/14) in five ... 2015 All-MPSF first team ... Top-four finalist for the Karch Kiraly (best outside hitter) Award, presented by Off the Block ... Taylor is coming off a career-best 15 dig performance vs. UC Santa Barbara.
OFFENSIVE SUPPORT - Although Pepperdine's one-two punch of Parker Kalmbach and Josh Taylor account for about 50-percent of the scoring, the Waves boast several other players who know how to put the ball away ... Scott Rhein had a breakout performance vs. BYU, charting career highs in both kills (15) and digs (16) for his collegiate-first double-double ... Rhein ranks third in kills and points with averages 2.37 and 2.74, respectively ... He led the Waves vs. UCSB in the MPSF quarterfinals with 12 kills, hitting .450 ... Matt Tarantino scores points in several ways and ranks fourth on the team with 2.46 points/set ... Tarantino leads Pepperdine in aces (0.42, 2nd in MPSF), ranks second in blocks (0.87) and fourth in kills (1.58) ... Tarantino was an All-MPSF second team pick in both 2014 and 2015 ... He spent the entire month of February on the disabled list, but returned to the lineup vs. Hawaii ... Tarantino is expected to receive a medical hardship redshirt for the 2012-13 season and expected to return in 2016 ... The lone sophomore in the starting lineup, Mitchell Penning, is averaging 1.33 kills and an overall team-high of 1.16 blocks ... Senior Nikola Antonijevic -- who was a regular in the starting lineup in 2012, 2013 and 2014 -- started in the seven matches between Feb. 6-March 8 and charted 1.22 kills/set while hitting .481 to go along with a team-high 1.30 blocks/set.
D-D-D-DEFENSE - The Waves have out-dug opponents all season long, led by senior libero Brennan Anderson with 2.39 digs/set ... With the exception if its middle blockers, all Pepperdine starters average more than a dig per set ... Parker Kalmbach accounts for 1.90 digs per set, while Matt West collects 1.58 ... Josh Taylor picks up 1.60 per set, and Scott Rhein has averaged 1.47 digs in 2015 ... At the net, Pepperdine is out-blocking opponents 2.56-1.75 ... Mitchell Penning ranks No. 9 in the MPSF with a blocks average of 1.16 ... Nikola Antonijevic has averaged 1.28 blocks in the nine matches he has played extensively as a middle ... His season average is only 0.79 due to several serving-only appearances ... Matt Tarantino accounts for 0.87 blocks/set.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Parker Kalmbach was the Waves' first MPSF Player of the Week in 2015, taking the honor on Jan. 26 after wins at home against CSUN and Long Beach State ... Kalmbach averaged nearly 5.0 points/set behind 4.43 kills/set ... He sent down a career-high 24 kills versus the 49ers while hitting .564 ... It was Kalmbach's first MPSF Player of the Week award after garnering an AVCA Player of the Week nod once in 2014 ... Brennan Anderson earned MPSF honors (2/2) a week after Kalmbach, and doubled down with the AVCA Player of the Week the following day (2/3) ... Anderson is the first libero to earn weekly recognition by either the MPSF or the AVCA since 2012 ... He is the Waves' 27th national player of the week, but the only libero on the list ... Anderson averaged 4.14 digs/set in road wins at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara ... He charted 19 digs in the 3-1 win over the Gauchos, matching the rally-scoring era record James Ka set against USC in 2005 ... Josh Taylor was honored as the MPSF Player of the Week (3/16) after helping the Waves rally back from an 0-2 deficit to beat UC Irvine (3/14) in five ... Taylor eclipsed the 20-kill mark for the first time in 2015 with 22 kills, earned at a solid .390 clip ... He also picked up a tied-for-team-high eight digs ... Matt West took MPSF (3/23) and AVCA (3/24) Player of the Week honors after averaging a staggering 13.77 assists per set in three matches, including an even 14.00 in two matches vs. BYU ... In match No. 1 vs. the Cougars, five Waves reached double figures in kills for a team total of 78, the most since 2010 ... West handed out a career-high 68 assists in the match, while putting down a season-best six kills ... Pepperdine knocked home 74 kills while hitting .407 in match No. 2 vs. BYU ... West dished 58 helpers in the contest, while picking up 10 digs for his second double-double of the season. The Waves hit .388 on the week and over .400 vs. the Cougars ... Pepperdine boasts the most AVCA National Player of the Week selections at 28.
STREAKING - The Waves went 14-1 at home this season ... With the 3-0 win over UCLA (4/7) , Pepperdine won a program-record 20 contests in a row inside Firestone Fieldhouse, dating back to March 8 of last season ... The previous record was set at 19 in a row, from April 24, 2004-Feb. 9, 2006, including 14-0 at home in 2015.
STARTING SEVEN - Pepperdine has settled into a rotation consisting of setter Matt West, outside hitters Josh Taylor and Scott Rhein, middle blockers Matt Tarantino and Mitchell Penning, opposite Parker Kalmbach and libero Brennan Anderson ... Nikola Antonijevic started in seven matches in February and the beginning of March ... Setter Soren Dion-Kindem has also earned a starting bid.
VOLLEYBALL HISTORY - Pepperdine has won five NCAA men's volleyball championships, second only to UCLA. The Waves have won the MPSF Tournament three times and have won or shared 10 regular-season conference titles. Pepperdine has won either an MPSF regular-season or tournament title (or both) in six of the last 15 seasons. The Waves have finished in the top six in the final AVCA poll in 16 of the last 18 seasons. Pepperdine student-athletes have won national player of the year honors nine times and All-American accolades 81 times. A Pepperdine alum has competed for the U.S. at the Olympics every time since 1984 (Sean Rooney won gold in 2008).
Marv Dunphy - Now in his 32nd season as head coach of the Waves, Marv Dunphy has time and again proven himself to be one of the top teachers in the sport. He has directed Pepperdine to four NCAA championships, each in a different decade (1978, 1985, 1992, 2005). He was the 2005 National Coach of the Year and is a three-time MPSF Coach of the Year. He entered the 2015 season with a career record of 565-248* (.695). Dunphy has long been involved with USA Volleyball, having been part of the coaching staff at six Olympics, including head coach of the 1988 team and consultant coach for the 2008 squad, both of which won gold. Dunphy, along with David Hunt and Joe Trinsey, were on staff when the U.S. Women's National Team won their first-ever gold medal at a major event (including the Olympics), after winning the 2014 FIVB World Championships. He has been inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame (1994), AVCA Hall of Fame (2009) and the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame (2010).
ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports -- one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat -- and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 23 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #54 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
