MALIBU, Calif. — Twelve team aces and three players with double-digit kills propelled the Pepperdine men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Princeton in Firestone Fieldhouse on Sunday night.  The 25-10, 25-13, 19-25, 25-20 set wins earned the Waves the first victory of the season.
 
Pepperdine was led by David Wieczorek with 14-kills on a .500 success rate, Michael Wexter with a double-double after amassing 12 kills and 10 digs, and Kaleb Denmark with a pair of new career-highs after totaling 12-kills and five-aces.
 
The Waves and Tigers were the only two teams in the nation to open the season today, resulting in Pepperdine having the best record nationally at 1-0.
 
BIG WAVES
David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 14 kills, .500 hitting %, 2 aces, 4 digs, 3 assists, 1 block
Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy): 12-kills, 5 aces, 6 digs
Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Linoln-Way West HS): 12-kills, .450 hitting %, 10 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley HS): 13 digs, 16 serve receptions with no errors (1.000%)
Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 8 kills, .467 hitting %, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Kévin Vaz (Paris, France/Palmetto HS (Fla.)/Cal Baptist): 3 aces, 3 kills, 2 blocks
Brendin Chandler (Agoura Hills, Calif./Calabasas HS): 31 assists, 4 digs, 1 block, 1 kill
 


WAVES VS. TIGERS
Pepperdine out-attacked and out-served the competition throughout the match, amassing 50 kills on a .370 success rate along with 12 team aces, as opposed to Princeton's 31 kills on a .182 clip and four aces.  The Tigers marked 7.5 blocks to the Waves' 4.0, but 39 digs from Pepperdine against 27 from across the net helped the cause.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        1          22        .591
2          10        1          20        .450
3          12        6          32        .188
4          14        5          26        .346
TTL      50        13        100      .370
 
PRINCETON ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          5          5          20        .000
2          8          4          23        .174
3          10        2          25        .320
4          8          4          20        .200
TTL      31        15        88        .182
 


NOTABLES

• Pepperdine and Princeton were the only two teams to open the 2019 season tonight, which means that Pepperdine men's volleyball now has the best record in the nation with a 1-0 output.
• The Waves 12-team aces ties for 5^th in the all-time Pepperdine men's volleyball rally scoring era record books.  The all-time lead is 16, which was achieved against BYU in 2001.
• David Wieczorek leads the Waves with 50 double-figure kill matches in his career, including his first one of the 2019 season today with 14-kills.
• Michael Wexter tabbed the Waves' first double-double of the season in today's match, with 12-kills and 10-digs.  It is the second of his career.
• Kaleb Denmark amassed two career-highs today with 12-kills and five-aces.
• Noah Dyer has posted double-figure digs four times in his career and once this season, tonight with 13 digs. 

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves made quite an impact to open the first set of the 2019 season, holding the Tigers to a .000 hitting percentage with only five kills on 20 swings, while amassing an impressive .591 success rate with 14 kills on 22 attempts.  Pepperdine began the set with a 5-1 run courtesy of an ace from Max Chamberlain and big kills from Kévin Vaz, Brendin Chandler and David Wieczorek.  Solid action continued throughout and big service ouputs from Vaz and Michael Wexter helped put the Waves at 19-10.  Once Wieczorek hit the service line, however, the set was secured featuring a Malibu Roofing Company rejection from Wexter and Vaz and kills from Wexter and Wieczorek to close the set with an uncontested 6-0 run for the 25-10 set win.
 
The Waves once again held the Tigers to a low success rate on the attack in the second set, while posting 10 kills with only one error on 20 swings for a .450 output in the set.  Pepperdine advanced the opening run to 7-1 in the second set, featuring a pair of aces from Vaz and a block from Wexter and Max Chamberlain.  Kaleb Denmark impressed with a pair of aces during his service output to put the Waves ahead 12-3, and the home team continued to use the momentum en route to a 17-11 lead.  Denmark found the floor from the service line for a third time in the set and Wiezcorek closed the set down 25-13 with a pair of smashes.
 
With the 2-0 lead heading into the third set, Princeton came out intent on staying in the match, amassing an 8-4 lead to begin.  The Tigers would hang on to the lead throughout and finishing the set with a 25-19 set win to force a fourth.
 
The fourth set began closer than any of the others, as each side worked to a 9-9 tie.  Wieczorek helped to start widening the gap with an ace and Pepperdine continued en route to an 18-12 lead with kills from Chamblerain, Denmark and Wexter.  In the final plays of the match, a final kill from Wieczorek put the set away 25-20 and ended with the 3-1 Waves' win.
 
NEXT UP
Next, Pepperdine hosts UC San Diego on January 4 at 7 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse.  Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @PeppMVB.  Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.