MALIBU, California – In a rematch from the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the #9 Pepperdine men's volleyball team once again defeated #10 Princeton, this time in three sets (25-16, 25-23, 25-20) in an exhibition match on Tuesday.
The Waves had big advantages in hitting (.312-.130) and blocking (13.0-7.5) over the Tigers. The two teams met in the NCAA quarterfinals in Long Beach in April and the result then was a five-set victory for Pepperdine.
BIG WAVES
- Redshirt freshman opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had a team-high-tying nine kills while hitting .500 (9-1-16). He also had seven digs and three block assists.
- Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) also had nine kills to go with six block assists and two aces.
- Redshirt freshman middle blocker JT Martin (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons HS) had seven kills on nine errorless swings for a .778 hitting percentage and posted a match-high seven block assists.
- Junior outside hitter Alex Gettinger (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS) led all players with nine digs and he also had four kills.
- Junior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) hit .625 on five kills on eight swings and also had four block assists.
- Senior Rob Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) and freshman Joe Karlous (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) shared time at setter. Mullahey had 24 assists and six digs and Karlous had seven assists and four digs.
MATCH STATS
- PEPP hitting: .312 overall (.304 set one, .310 set two, .321 set three)
- PRIN hitting: .130 overall (.000 set one, .219 set two, .154 set three)
- Service Aces: PEPP 4, PRIN 2
- Digs: PEPP 34, PRIN 28
- Blocks: PEPP 13.0, PRIN 7.5
- Princeton was led by George Huhmann's match-high 16 kills, though no other Tiger had more than five kills.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine finishes off its exhibition series with its third in three days when the Waves face Canadian school Brandon University on Wednesday (Jan. 1) at 1 p.m.
