PROVO, Utah – The #6 Pepperdine men's volleyball team fell in its final regular-season road match on Saturday, as #9 BYU amassed 18.5 blocks in a four-set defeat (26-28, 25-27, 25-22, 24-26).
The Cougars (11-6, 6-3) passed the Waves (15-6, 5-3) for second place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and avoided a season sweep, though Pepperdine's final four conference matches will all be at home.
BIG WAVES
- Senior opposite Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS) had 19 kills on .325 hitting along with eight digs and four blocks.
- Senior outside hitter David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) picked up his second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 10 digs.
- Senior outside hitter Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy) earned his fourth double-double of the year with 15 kills and 130 digs.
- Sophomore setter Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) had 48 assists, four digs and two service aces.
- Sharing libero duties, sophomore Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) had seven digs and junior Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) had five.
MATCH STATS
- PEPP hitting: .209 overall (.195 set one, .235 set two, .290 set three, .107 set four)
- BYU hitting: .241 overall (.267 set one, .222 set two, .226 set three, .250 set four)
- Service Aces: PEPP 4, BYU 4
- Digs: PEPP 45, BYU 42
- Blocks: PEPP 7.5, BYU 18.5
- BYU was led by Gabi Garcia Fernandez' 20 kills. Felipe de Brito Ferreira was in on 13 of the blocks.
PLAY BY PLAY
In the first set, the Waves led 12-9 early, but the Cougars went up 19-16 and 20-17 late. However, the Waves then went on a 5-1 run to go up 22-21. Pepperdine served for the set at 24-23, but BYU got the sideout. Tied at 26, the Cougars got back-to-back blocks to claim the first set 28-26.
Set two stayed close for a long time as neither side went up by two points until Pepperdine took a 17-15 lead, and then it became 18-15 after a Mullahey service ace. But BYU came back with three straight points of its own to tie the set at 18. Tied at 25, the Cougars got a kill and then won the set on a block.
BYU led set three 12-10 when the Waves scored five straight points, two on kills by Denmark and the last three on Cougar hitting errors. BYU quickly tied the set again at 16, however. It was tied again at 22 when the Waves rattled off three straight points on a kill by Wexter and two kills by Denmark, extending the match to a fourth set.
The Cougars got out to an 11-6 lead in set four, though Pepperdine would later tie the set 16 after a 5-1 run. BYU went back ahead 20-17 and had three match points at 24-21, but the Waves briefly extended the match with three straight points. Still, the Cougars came back out of a timeout to end it with the next two points.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine plays its final five regular-season matches at home, including next Saturday (March 23) with a 5 p.m. non-conference contest against UC Irvine.
