MALIBU, Calif. — The #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team posted a second victory over #10 UC Santa Barbara this week in Firestone Fieldhouse on Friday night, marking a .410 hitting percentage en route to a 25-17, 28-30, 25-18 and 25-23 victory. 
 
The Waves advanced to 4-0 in the non-conference season, while the Gauchos drop to 3-2.  Pepperdine's powerful offense was led by David Wieczorek with 15 kills, as well as a pair of double-doubles from Kaleb Denmark with 14 kills and 10 digs and Michael Wexter with 13 kills and 12 digs.
 
BIG WAVES
David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 15 kills, .333 hitting %, 1 ace, 4 digs, 2 blocks
Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy): 14 kills, .370 hitting %, 10 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Linoln-Way West HS): 13 kills, 12 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 8 kills, .583 hitting %, 4 blocks, 1 ace
Kévin Vaz (Paris, France/Palmetto HS (Fla.)/Cal Baptist): 9 kills, .692 hitting %, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 51 assists, 6 digs, 2 blocks, 2 kills, 1.000 hitting %
Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley HS): 7 digs, 1 kill
 
WAVES VS. GAUCHOS
Pepperdine led the floor in a multitude of categories, outhitting the Gauchos with 62 kills on a .410 success rate compared to 49 kills on a .276 clip.  Pepperdine added 60 assists, five aces and 40 digs, to UCSB's 46 assists, four aces and 30 digs.  The Gauchos did outblock the Waves 8.5 to 7.5 throughout the match.


 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        1          20        .700
2          15        3          32        .375
3          17        4          31        .419
4          15        6          34        .265
TTL      62        14        117      .410
 
UC SANTA BARBARA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          8          5          20        .150
2          20        7          42        .310
3          10        1          26        .346
4          11        4          28        .250
TTL      49        17        116      .276
 
NOTABLES

• Michael Wexter posted his third career double-double and the second of the season.  He has marked 13 matches with double-figure kills in his career.  Wexter leads the squad with 53 kills so far this season.
• Kaleb Denmark amassed his first double-double of his career and the third match with double-figure kills.
• David Wieczorek leads the Waves with 52 double-figure kill matches in his career, including his third of the season tonight.
• Robert Mullahey tied his career-best assist mark in tonight's match with 51 assists.
• The .410 hitting percentage put forth by the Waves is the highest of the 2019 campaign thus far.

 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
In the first set, both sides came out strong on the attack, going point-for-point en route to a 7-7 tied score.  The Waves gained the first edge with a smash from Kévin Vaz in the middle, but the Gauchos stayed close behind until a 13-11 tie.  At that point, David Wieczorek hit the service line and a strong presence by him, featuring kills from Kaleb Denmark and Michael Wexter put Pepperdine ahead 17-11.  The Waves would ride that lead towards a 25-17 set win after a final smash from Vaz.  The Waves hit for a staggering .700 hitting percentage in the first set alone with 15 kills and only one error on 20 attempts.
 
In the second set, the action was close from start to finish.  Although the Gauchos pulled ahead 15-12, the Waves battled back to tie the score at 15's.  After another see-saw battle, Pepperdine fought off five set-point opportunities from UCSB, but the Gauchos were able to secure the 30-28 set win to tie the match.
 
After dropping the second set, Pepperdine came out even stronger in the third, posting an 8-5 lead early on with smashes from Wexter and Max Chamberlain.  Pepperdine maintained a comfortable advantage throughout a majority of the third set, highlighted by a score of 20-14 with an ace from Denmark.  Kills from Vaz, Wexter and Wieczorek late in the set helped the Waves to a 25-18 set win and an opportunity to close the match in four.
 
The Waves would do just that despite falling behind in the opening points 5-3.  Pepperdine countered with a pair of kills from Denmark and Wexter and continued with more smashes from Wieczorek and a block collaboration from Wieczorek and Vaz.  UCSB rallied to tie the score at 15-15 and the two teams went point-for-point once again towards a 23-23 tied score.  In the last two plays Wieczorek landed a big kill and Robert Mullahey and Chamberlain connected on a block to post a Waves' victory with a 25-23 final set score.
 
NEXT UP
Next, Pepperdine will hit the road for Chicago to challenge Loyola Chicago on January 18 and Lewis on January 19.  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.