MALIBU, Calif. — The Malibu Roofing Company propelled the #6 Pepperdine men's volleyball program to its first sweep of the 2019 campaign, as the Waves posted 10.5 blocks en route to 25-21, 25-18 and 25-18 final set scores in Firestone Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Michael Wexter led the Waves (2-0) with 12-kills on a .480 success rate towards the straight-set win over the Tritons (0-1), while
Kevin Vaz was a wall at the net with six blocks.
BIG WAVES
Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Linoln-Way West HS): 12 kills, .480 hitting %, 6 digs, 4 blocks
David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 9 kills, .333 hitting %, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy): 8 kills, .357 hitting %, 4 digs, 4 blocks
Kévin Vaz (Paris, France/Palmetto HS (Fla.)/Cal Baptist): 6 blocks, 5 kills, .625 hitting %
Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 3 blocks, 4 kills, .375 hitting %, 2 aces, 3 digs
Brendin Chandler (Agoura Hills, Calif./Calabasas HS): 32 assists, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley HS): 3 digs
WAVES VS. TRITONS
Pepperdine out-performed UC San Diego in most aspects of the match, compiling 38 kills on a .425 success rate, compared to the oppositions 36 kills on a .207 output. The Waves also amassed 10.5 blocks and two aces to the Tritons' 5.5 blocks and one ace. The competition did lead the match in digs, with 25 to the Waves 23.
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 13 3 26 .385
2 12 3 23 .391
3 13 1 24 .500
TTL 38 7 73 .425
UC SAN DIEGO ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 15 6 32 .281
2 9 7 27 .074
3 12 5 28 .250
TTL 36 18 87 .207
NOTABLES
- The Waves .425 hitting percentage against UC San Diego was the highest of the season thus far.
- Pepperdine is hitting .393 on the season thus far, with 12.57 kills/set.
- Michael Wexter earned his 11th-career match with double-figure kills and the second of the 2019 campaign tonight with 12-smashes.
- Wexter leads the Waves with 24-kills on the season. He and Noah Dyer lead the team with 16-digs apiece.
- Brendin Chandler marked a career-high 32 assists against UC San Diego. He leads the Waves with 9.0 assists/set this season.
- Kevin Vaz posted a Pepperdine career-high six blocks tonight, leading Pepperdine on the season with 1.14 blocks/set.
- David Wieczorek leads the Waves with 50 double-figure kill matches in his career.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine came out strong in the first set, amassing a 3-0 lead after a kill from
David Wieczorek and the first ace of the day from
Max Chamberlain. UC San Diego would prove tough late in the set, however, hanging with the Waves by two-points throughout the set's entirety. After an even 21-21 tie, back-to-back blocks from Chamberlain,
Brendin Chandler and
Kaleb Denmark helped the cause and final kills from
Michael Wexter and Wieczorek put the set away 25-21.
Pepperdine continued the second set as the team ended the first and built a comfortable 12-7 lead with blocks from
Kevin Vaz and Denmark and kills from Chamberlain throughout. More solid smash-work from Wexter and Denmark en route to a 21-16 advantage late in the action. Anotehr kill from Wexter kept the Waves on track and back-to-back kills from Denmark put the set away with a 25-18 win.
With the 2-0 advantage, Pepperdine had the head start to open the third set, and used the early momentum to work towards a 15-9 lead. More kills from Wexter and a second ace by Chamberlain put the Waves in a position to close, and the team would do just that. Final smashes from Denmark and Wexter closed down the set with a 25-18 win and the match with the Waves first sweep of the 2019 campaign.
NEXT UP
Next, Pepperdine will travel to UC Santa Barbara on January 9 to take on the Gauchos at 7 p.m. 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.
