CHICAGO, Ill. — The #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team succumbed to its first loss of the 2019 season on Friday night, falling with 25-17, 24-26, 17-25, 25-22 and 9-15 set scores to #7 Loyola Chicago in Gentile Arena.
Pepperdine (4-1) was led by
David Wieczorek with 21 kills and
Kévin Vaz with eight blocks, while the Waves hit for a .273 success rate to the Ramblers (4-1) .328.
BIG WAVES
David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 21 kills, .354 hitting %, 6 blocks, 5 digs, 1 ace
Kévin Vaz (Paris, France/Palmetto HS (Fla.)/Cal Baptist): 7 kills, 8 blocks, 3 digs
Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy): 7 kills, 6 digs, 1 block
Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Linoln-Way West HS): 9 kills, 12 digs, 2 blocks
Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley HS): 6 digs
Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 3 aces, 1 block, 4 kills
Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 41 assists, 6 digs
WAVES VS. RAMBLERS
Loyola Chicago led the floor with 68 kills on a .328 clip, while Pepperdine posted 50 smashes on a .273 output. The opposition also led with 10.5 blocks and six aces to the Waves' 10.0 blocks and four aces. LUC added 65 assists and 47 digs, while Pepperdine marked 47 assists and 39 digs.
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 7 2 14 .357
2 14 4 36 .278
3 11 4 25 .280
4 12 4 28 .286
5 6 3 18 .167
TTL 50 17 121 .273
LOYOLA CHICAGO ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 13 8 27 .185
2 19 5 46 .304
3 15 2 23 .565
4 13 7 27 .222
5 8 1 14 .500
TTL 68 23 137 .328
NOTABLES
- David Wieczoek posted a season-high 21 kills on a .354 success rate. He also amassed a season-best six blocks in the effort. It is the 53rd time in his career he has hit the double-figure kill mark and the fourth this season.
- Michael Wexter tied his career-best dig effort fo r a third time with 12 digs.
- Kevin Vaz put up a career-high eight blocks.
- This is the third time in his career that Max Chamberlain posted three aces.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Each side came out swinging in the first set, Loyola Chicago landing only 13 of 27 attempts in the set for a .185 output to Pepperdine's seven on 14 swings for a .257 success rate. After going point-for-point to an 8-8 tie, the Waves posted an 8-2 run to pull ahead courtesy of three aces from
Max Chamberlain and back-to-back blocks from
David Wieczorek and
Kevin Vaz. The Ramblers started to close the gap, but the Waves were able to close out the set after smashes from
Michael Wexter.
The second set was close throughout, as each team climbed through 5-5, 10-10 and 15-15 tied scores. The Waves pulled ahead to a 20-17 lead after kills from Wieczorek and
Kaleb Denmark, but the opposition rallied back to tie the score at 20's. After the Ramblers pulled ahead, the Waves rallied back themselves to tie the score at 24-apiece, although would be unable to overcome as the home team took a 26-24 set win to tie the match.
Loyola Chicago came out stronger in the third set, working ahead for a 21-13 lead. Pepperdine wouldn't be able to surpass LUC's lead and the Ramblers would eventually take a 25-17 set win.
With the match on the line, the Waves came out ready to fight in the fourth set, posting a quick 9-4 lead over the opposition with smashes from Wexter and Vaz. The Ramblers came close at the 11-10 mark, but the Waves once again broke away and continued on to a 20-15 advantage. In the final moments, Wiecorek picked up back-to-back kills and Wexter put one down to close the set 25-22 and send things to a fifth.
In the final set, LUC earned the first 3-0 lead with a kill and an ace, but Pepperdine evened the score on three-straight Wieczorek kills. After the Ramblers pulled ahead 5-3, the Waves were unable to close the gap and succumbed to a 15-9 final result for a 3-2 loss.
NEXT UP
Next, Pepperdine will continue the Chicago road trip at #8 Lewis on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT. 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.
