Pepperdine University
UC San Diego
No. 11 Waves Down UC San Diego in Three
1/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
FINAL STATS
HIGHLIGHTS
MALIBU, Calif.: " The No. 11-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball team had another successful result in Firestone Fieldhouse this Wednesday night as the Waves downed MPSF opponent's UC San Diego in three sets, 25-16, 25-20 and 25-21.
The Waves (3-1, 2-1 MPSF) challenged the Tritons (1-4, 0-3 MPSF) with a powerful .358 hitting percentage after smashing down 35 kills and only 11 errors in 67 attempts. The team also produced 11.5 team blocks and seven service aces in the effort.
Freshman David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola HS) led the Waves' offensive with 10 kills on 19 attempts with only two errors (.421), while adding three service aces, three block assists and one block solo on the day.
Junior Mitchell Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) put in an all-around strong effort with a near-perfect 7-0-9 attack performance. He finished the night with a.778 hitting percentage, while also amassing four block assists and one ace.
Seniors Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) and Tommy Carmody (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg HS/Pacific) were also instrumental in the win. Tarantino tabbed eight kills and four block assists. Carmody led the Waves with five block assists, while adding a 3-0-5 performance on the offensive for a .600 hitting percentage as well as two service aces.
Junior Joshua Stewart (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory/Pacific) and sophomore Weston Barnes (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach HS/George Mason) closed out the night with strong performances as well. Stewart led the Waves with 31 assists and added three block assists, four digs and two kills and Barnes led Pepperdine with eight digs after three sets.
The Waves came out strong in the first set, picking up a quick 12-5 lead over the Tritons to gain an early advantage. The home team kept producing and a big block effort by Penning, Tarantino and Wieczorek, followed a block connection at the net by Carmody and Stewart and Pepperdine put UCSD down to a seven-point deficit, 20-13. Well-placed kills by Stewart and a strong-armed attack by sophomore Colby Harriman (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) and the Waves earned the 25-16 win to go up one set to none.
The second set proved a bit tougher for the home team, as each side battled point-by-point to amass an 11-11 score late in the set. The set continued in the same fashion until the 19-19 mark when the Waves shut the door and took off. A kill by Wieczorek fueled the energy and with junior James Gehrels (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic HS) at the service line, Pepperdine was in good hands. Gehrels sent a screamer down on the Triton's court to give the Waves the 2-0 advantage with a 25-20 set score.
Pepperdine came out strong in the third and final set, picking up a 12-7 lead on a strategically-placed ace by Harriman. The Waves continued to push and despite some difficulty with serving for both teams and a come-back attempt by the Tritons, prevailed towards a 25-21 win for the straight-set sweep.
Pepperdine will be back in action this Friday (January 22) at 7 p.m. as the Waves challenge No. 4 UC Irvine (2-2, 1-1 MPSF) to a bout at Firestone Fieldhouse. Live stats, live stream and game notes can all be found by following this link: http://gowav.es/mvb2014.
