Pepperdine University
USC
Mullahey Dishes the #5 Waves to Sweep over USC
3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. " Three aces apiece from Alex Harthaller and Michael Wexter helped the No. 5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team to a straight sweep over USC in the Galen Center on Thursday night.
Harthaller's and David Wieczorek's double-figure kills also helped propel the Waves (14-6, 7-4 MPSF) to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win over the Trojans (6-17, 2-7 MPSF) with 25-20, 26-24 and 25-23 final set scores.
 | BIG WAVES |
- David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 15 kills, .314 hitting%, 1 ace, 4 digs, 2 blocks
- Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austria/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW): 13 kills, .440 hitting%, 3 aces, 7 digs
- Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 38 assists, 6 digs, 2 kills
- Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS): 6 kills, 3 aces, 4 digs, 2 blocks
- Colby Harriman (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS): 6 kills, 7 digs
- Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 7 kills, 2 blocks (1 solo
- Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS): 7 digs, 3 assists
| WAVES VS. TROJANS |
| PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET |
1. 18-3-35 (.429)
2. 15-5-34 (.294)
3. 16-7-39 (.231)
TOTAL: 49-15-108 (.315)
| USC ATTACK BY SET |
1. 11-4-27 (.259)
2. 15-4-38 (.289)
3. 12-2-31 (.323)
TOTAL: 38-10-96 (.292)
| NOTABLES |
- In the Waves' 20 matches, David Wieczorek has led the team in kills on 14 occasions.
- Pepperdine has gone 8-5 against ranked teams, including three top-five upsets this season with a sweep over #2 UCLA and four-set wins over #3 Hawai'i and #4 UC Irvine.
- The Waves have posted an 11-0 record when leading in hitting percentage and 10-1 when leading in kills and/or blocks throughout the match.
- David Wieczorek leads the conference in points/set, aces/set and kills/set and is second in hitting percentage.
- Robert Mullahey and Max Chamberlain rank in the top-five in two separate statistical categories, with Mullahey averaging 10.46 assists/set and Chamberlain posting 1.27 blocks/set this season.
| PLAY-BY-PLAY |
The second set was close from start to finish, with Pepperdine and USC going through tied scores from 11-11, 17-17 and 23-23. A kill from Max Chamberlain gave the Waves their first set point, but the Trojans hit the floor to break the option. Mullahey pushed two to the outside for Harthaller to put down in the following plays to secure the 2-0 lead on a 26-24 set score.
The Trojans had the lead for a majority of the third set, pulling ahead 12-8 and 16-14. Kills and an ace from Harthaller helped the Waves close the gap at 17-17, but the Trojans stayed close despite being able to close the gap after that. Pepperdine held on to the lead with more kills from Harthaller and Wieczorek gave the Waves' a match-point opportunity. A final kill from Harthaller and a service error from the other side of the net closed the match down and completed the sweep with a 25-23 set victory.
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