NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — The #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team continued sweeping ways at The Matadome on Wednesday night, downing #11 CSUN with 25-20, 25-23 and 25-22 set wins for the non-conference victory.
 
The Waves (9-2) were led by David Wieczorek and Michael Wexter with 13 and 12 kills respectively, while Wexter also added four aces in the match.  Prior to tonight's sweep, the Waves also blanked #7 BYU and #9 Stanford last week.
 
BIG WAVES
David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 13 kills, .417 hitting %, 3 digs
Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Linoln-Way West HS): 12 kills, .346 hitting %, 4 aces, 6 digs, 1 block
Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy): 6 kills, 7 digs
Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 3 kills, 2 digs
Kévin Vaz (Paris, France/Palmetto HS (Fla.)/Cal Baptist): 6 kills, .500 hitting %, 1 ace, 3 blocks (1 solo)
Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 36 assists, 4 digs, 1 block, 2 kills, 1.000%
Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley HS): 7 digs, 2 assists
Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS): 1 ace
 
WAVES VS. MATADORS
Pepperdine led the match in most areas, leading with 42 smashes on a .326 success rate, while allowing only 33 kills on a .247 output.  The Waves also marked six aces and 30 digs to the Matadors four aces and 28 digs.  CSUN did, however, lead 3.5 blocks to Pepperdine's 3.0.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        2          22        .636
2          23        7          34        .147
3          14        2          39        .308
TTL      42        11        95        .326
 
CSUN ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          12        2          19        .526
2          9          6          30        .100
3          12        5          32        .219
TTL      33        13        81        .247
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Although the first set started closely, the Waves took a 6-5 edge and never looked back.  With three consecutive kills from David Wieczorek and some more from Michael Wexter and Kévin Vaz, the Waves extended the lead to 14-9.  After an 18-12 advantage late in the action, an ace from Wexter and more kills from Wieczorek and Kaleb Denmark helped the cause. After a few set-point opportunities, the Waves sent the ball over to Wexter on the right side to put things away 25-20. 
 
The second set was close throughout, as each team saw a 10-10 tied score before the Waves started to pull away courtesy of kills from Wexter and Wieczorek.  CSUN was always close behind, however, as the Matadors pulled within one and then exchanged points with the Waves en route to an 18-17 score.  A sneaky attack from Robert Mullahey and an ace from Spencer Wickens immediately after helped extend Pepperdine's momentum, but the Matadors were resilient and tied the score at 22's.  Pepperdine would not give up, though, and a kill from Wexter put the ball in the hands of Max Chamberlain at the service line, who put the opposition on edge and forced an attack error for the 25-23 set win and 2-0 lead heading into the third set.
 
CSUN took the lead to open the third set, but Pepperdine was always close behind.  After answering on each possession through to a 17-17 tied score, the Waves started to pull ahead after a Wieczorek ace followed by a few choice attack errors from across the net.  A kill from Wexter on the right and Denmark on the left helped Pepperdine pull forward once again.  This time, the Waves would give no letup and a Wieczorek smash closed the set with a 25-22 win and ended the match with a sweep.
 
NOTABLES

• Pepperdine has gone 7-2 against ranked opponents this season and 5-2 against top-10 ranked opponents.
• David Wieczoek has now amassed 1,048 career kills and 112 career aces.  His ace mark is currently ranked 9^th in the Pepperdine men's volleyball record books.
• Wieczorek leads the squad with 166 kills and 3.95 kills/set, along with 21 aces and 0.50 aces/set.  He has posted double-figure kills 10 times this season and 59 times in his career.
• Michael Wexter reached the double-figure kill mark for the 9^th time this season and the 18^th time in his career.  He is second on the team with 3.36 kills/set.
• Kevin Vaz leads the Waves with 1.00 blocks/set this season, with 36 total blocks including four solo rejections.  Wexter, Wieczorek and Max Chamberlain are next in terms of blocking efforts, as each has marked 23, 22 and 22 blocks respectively.
• Robert Mullahey leads the Waves in assists this season with 9.65, ranking 19^th nationally and 4^th in the MPSF.
• Noah Dyer leads the Waves in the back row with 87 total digs to average 2.05 digs/set.

 
NEXT UP
Next, the Waves make the trip to Phoenix, Ariz. to taken on Grand Canyon on Friday, February 15.  The next time the Waves will be home is March 12 against George Mason.  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.