PALO ALTO, California – The #6 Pepperdine men's volleyball team hit .489 in a three-set victory (29-27, 25-19, 25-19) at #8 Stanford on Thursday night, giving the Waves a season sweep over their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opponent.
The Waves (15-5 overall) picked up a crucial road victory to stay in second place in the MPSF standings at 5-2, and pulled within one game of first-place UCLA after the Bruins lost at BYU tonight. Stanford fell to 13-8, 4-4, and lost for only the second time this season at home.
BIG WAVES
- Senior outside hitter David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) had 13 kills on 24 errorless swings, good for a .542 hitting percentage. It was his second straight match without a hitting error, as well as his second time this season against Stanford.
- Senior opposite Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS) earned his fifth double-double of the season with 10 kills (on a .450 hitting percentage) and 11 digs. He also had four blocks and two service aces.
- Senior outside hitter Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy) had nine kills, three digs and two blocks.
- Senior middle blocker Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS) hit .667 with nine kills and also had four blocks.
- Graduate transfer middle blocker Kevin Vaz (Paris, France/Cal Baptist) hit .500 on five kills and had a team-high five blocks.
- Sophomore setter Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) handed out 41 assists and had five digs.
- Sophomore libero Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) recorded nine digs for the second straight match, tying his career high.
MATCH STATS
- PEPP hitting: .489 overall (.500 set one, .452 set two, .520 set three)
- STAN hitting: .236 overall (.326 set one, .147 set two, 207 set three)
- Service Aces: PEPP 3, STAN 3
- Digs: PEPP 33, STAN 32
- Blocks: PEPP 11.0, STAN 2.0
- Stanford was led by Jaylen Jasper's 13 kills and Jordan Ewert's 11 kills.
PLAY BY PLAY
The Waves got out to a 12-8 lead in set one, and it was still a four-point lead at 14-10. Stanford began to chip away at the lead, however, and eventually tied it at 21. The Waves served for the set at 24-22, but the Cardinal ran off three straight points to extend set one. Stanford had a 27-26 lead, but a service error, a Denmark kill and a Wexter solo block gave the Waves the victory.
Pepperdine broke out to an 8-4 lead in set two, but Stanford came back with a run to go ahead 10-9. But with the Waves holding a 14-13 lead, Pepperdine ran off seven straight points – kills by Vaz, Denmark and Vaz again, a service ace by Wexter, a block by Vaz and Mullahey, a kill by Denmark and a Stanford attack error – making it 21-13, and Pepperdine had no trouble finishing off the second set.
Stanford jumped out to a 6-2 lead in set three but Pepperdine repeatedly scored on its serve for much of the rest of the set. The Waves took the lead at 10-9, and then a 6-1 run made it 16-11. The run grew to 10-3 to put the Waves ahead 20-13, and from there it was just a matter of time before the Waves finished off the sweep.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine's final road match of the season is at #9 BYU on Saturday (March 16) at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT. The match will be televised by BYUtv.
