#12 Pepperdine Downs #14 Ball State in Four

Saturday, January 27

Fairfax, Va.

4:00 PM

Pepperdine University

Ball State

Michael Wexter (1) (Photo by Martin A Folb)

1/27/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

Jan. 27, 2018

Final Stats

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. " David Wieczorek and Alex Harthaller led the No. 12 Pepperdine men's volleyball team to a four-set victory over No. 14 Ball State to close the Uvaldo Acosta Invitational on Saturday night, after marking 15 and 10 kills respectively.

The Waves (3-2) came back from a first set lost to dominate the attack front and work towards the 20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-14 final score. Pepperdine marked a .415 success rate against the Cardinals (4-3), while allowing the opposition only a .202 output.

BIG WAVES

David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 15 kills, .500 hitting percentage, 2 blocks, 2 digs
Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austria/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW): 10 kills, .292 hitting percentage, 2 aces, 4 digs, 2 blocks
Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS): 7 kills, 1 ace, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 5 kills, 5 blocks
Colby Harriman (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS): 7 kills, 1 ace, 4 digs, 3 blocks
Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 33 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace, 1 kill, 1 block
Weston Barnes (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach HS/George Mason): 10 digs, 5 assists

WAVES VS. CARDINALS

Each side posted 45 blocks, but the Waves did so on 82 attempts, while the opposition posted 104 on the night. Pepperdine out-served Ball State with six aces to five, while the Cardinals led with 9.0 blocks to the Waves' 7.5. The Waves added 30 digs and 44 assists, while Ball State produced 24 digs and 41 assists.

PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET

Set K-E-TA (Pct)

1. 9-3-15 (.400)

2. 12-3-19 (.474)

3. 15-3-33 (.364)

4. 9-2-15 (.467)

TOTAL: 45-11-82 (.415)

BALL STATE ATTACK BY SET

Set K-E-TA (Pct)

1. 13-4-18 (.500)

2. 9-6-26 (.115)

3. 15-6-36 (.250)

4. 8-8-24 (.000)

TOTAL: 45-24-104 (.202)

PLAY-BY-PLAY

After a 7-7 tie early in the first set, Ball State started to extend the gap over Peppedine en route to a 20-14 advantage. The Waves stayed within five points, but the Cardinals closed with a 25-20 set win to gain the early advantage.

Sparked by the first set deficit, the Waves came out with the intention of tying the match in the second set. After a 6-6 tie, Pepperdine busted out to a 17-11 lead with and ace from Harthaller, blocks from Chamberlain and Harriman and smashes from Wexter and Wieczorek. The opposition started to put a few points together after that, but Pepperdine shut the door and a Spencer Wickens' ace, followed by back-to-back Wieczorek and Harriman kills resulted in the Waves 25-16 set win to tie the match.

Pepperdine didn't let up in the third set either and came out of the starting gate towards an 11-5 lead. A late Harriman ace kept the Waves ahead 18-11, but late runs by the Cardinals made it a close set. Pepperdine picked up the first set-point option at the 24-20 mark. Ball State was able to fight off the Waves, but Pepperdine prevailed and a final kill from Harthaller earned a 25-23 set win to make it a 2-1 Waves' advantage.

The fourth set was no question the Waves from the beginning, as Pepperdine came out to a 14-6 lead with big services from Mullahey and Wexter and blocks from Wieczorek, Chamberlain and Harriman. With the momentum on high and the win in sight, the Waves went in full swing towards the finish line. An ace from Harthaller and kills from Wieczorek ended the match with a 25-14 fourth set win and 3-1 match victory.

NEXT UP

Pepperdine returns home to host Princeton on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse. Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @PepperdineWaves. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.