Final Stats

RIVERSIDE, Calif.: - The No. 8 Pepperdine men's volleyball squad took the broom to Cal Baptist on the road tonight, earning the straight-set win, 25-21, 25-23 and 25-18 to advance to a 5-2 overall record and 4-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation effort this Saturday night at Van Dyne Gym.

The Waves hit for a .411 on the night after posting 41 kills and 11 errors on 73 swings in three sets. The team also collected 8.5 team blocks, 18 digs, five aces and 38 assists all day.

Senior Matt Tarantino (Van Nuys, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) and freshman David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola HS) led the team with 11 kills apiece. Tarantino tabbed a .625 hitting percentage after picking up only one error on 16 attempts and added one ace, three digs and two blocks for the Waves. Wieczorek was good for a .450 percentage on the attack with two errors on 20 attempts, while amassing three aces and 17 serve receptions with no reception errors.

The match was relatively close to start the first half, but back-to-back collaborations at the net by Tommy Carmody (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg HS/Pacific) and Colby Harriman (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) put the Waves up 11-8. The Lancers almost rallied back, picking up a 17-18 deficit late in the set, but Tarantino smoked a well-placed service ace down to the opposition's court to begin the Waves' breakaway yet again. A Wieczorek kill and a Cal Baptist attack error ended the set with Pepperdine loading up a 1-0 set lead, 25-21.

Carmody finished the night with a 6-1-7 performance on the offensive for a .714 hitting percentage, while tabbing six blocks including one solo. Harriman ended up with seven kills, four blocks and three digs for the Waves.

In the second set, both teams were neck-and-neck until the 13-13 mark when the home team started to inch away, amassing an 18-14 lead before Pepperdine would start rallying. Fueled by back-to-back aces by Wieczorek and consecutive kills by Harriman, the Waves quickly flipped the switch for a 19-18 lead over the Lancers. Another Wieczorek ace and a kill by Tarantino had the Waves up by three and the team on upward momentum. CBU came to a near tie at the 22-23 mark, but Pepperdine remained tough and a Lancers' service error ended the second set with the Waves 25-23 advantage for a 2-0 lead heading into the third and final set.

Despite a 3-0 start to the third set, the Waves began to rally to even the score 7-7. Cal Baptist broke off once again, but Pepperdine was close behind at the 12-12 mark and the team gained momentum quickly. With the score 20-18, the Waves had Mitchell Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) at the service line. He began with a service ace and then continued to give the Lancers something to struggle with throughout the end of the match. First, a block effort by Carmody and Tarantino, followed by the block stylings of Carmody, Tarantino and Harriman finished the set off with a 25-18 set win and a complete sweep for Pepperdine.

Junior Penning closed up shop with five kills, one ace and one block assist. Sophomore setter Soren Dion-Kindem (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS) finished the match with 35 assists, six digs and two blocks, one a solo for the Waves. Sophomore libero Weston Barnes (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna HS/George Mason) also tallied six digs on the night.

Next, the Waves will head to Northridge, Calif. to take on No. 12 Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. on February 3 (Wednesday). Live stats, live stream and game notes can all be found by following this link: http://gowav.es/mvb2014.