HONOLULU, Hawai'i. — For the second match of the Outrigger Resort Invitational, the #6 Pepperdine men's volleyball team has swept the opposition, amassing a 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18 set win over King (Tenn.) on Friday night in the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
The senior force played a big part in tonight's match, as seniors Clay Carr and Kaleb Denmark led the Waves with 12 kills, with .562 and .647 hitting percentages respectively.  Fellow senior Michael Wexter also played well, posting five aces, while senior Kévin Vaz tallied five blocks.
 
The Waves (13-4) have gone 2-0 in the tournament thus far, and face tournament host and #2-ranked Hawai'i at 9 p.m. on Saturday night.
 
BIG WAVES
Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy): 12 kills, .647 hitting %, 3 aces, 1 block
Clay Carr (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS): 12 kills, .562 hitting %, 2 blocks
Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Linoln-Way West HS): 5 kills, .455 hitting %, 5 aces, 2 digs, 1 block
Kévin Vaz (Paris, France/Palmetto HS (Fla.)/Cal Baptist): 7 kills, .308 hitting %, 2 aces, 5 blocks
Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 2 kills, 37 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace
Ben Weinberg (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS): 5 kills, 5 digs, 1 block
 
WAVES VS. TORNADO
Pepperdine commanded the smash efforts against King, posting 46 kills on a .447 success rate, while allowing only 24 kills on a .245 clip.  The Waves posted 44 assists to the Tornado's 23, while adding a staggering 11 aces to the opposition's two.  Although King amassed 6.0 team blocks, Pepperdine posted 7.0 towards the Waves win.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          21        4          34        .500
2          11        4          18        .389
3          14        4          24        .417
TTL      46        12        76        .447
 
KING ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          10        2          18        .444
2          7          7          16        .000
3          7          2          19        .263
TTL      24        11        53        .245
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Each side came out swinging in the first set, but with kills from Michael Wexter and Clay Carr throughout the set, the Waves were able to gain an edge after a 12-12 tied score.  After a 4-0 run to pull ahead with kills from Kaleb Denmark, the Waves had a comfortable leave and would give no letup.  A kill from Denmark late in the set helped the cause and an Asics Ace from Wexter ended it with a 25-21 set win for the lead.
 
The second set was equally as close as the first, with the Tornado pulling ahead 9-6 early on.  The Waves would show resiliency, however, and bounced back to tie the set at 12's after a strong service output from Wexter featuring two aces, as well as kills from Carr and Kévin Vaz.  Late in the set after Pepperdine had amassed a 22-15 set lead, Vaz took the service line, finding the floor for a pair of aces and setting the Waves up for Ben Weinberg to deliver the set's final smash for a 25-16 set win.
 
With the 2-0 lead heading into the third, Pepperdine came out of the starting gate strong.  Although the opposition stayed close behind in the early moments of the set, the Waves clearly and the momentum, and more aces from Wexter helped grow the Waves lead to 18-12 late in the action.  Robert Mullahey added an ace of his own to help the cause and Denmark closed out the set with a smash for the 25-18 set win and the Waves' second-straight sweep of the Outrigger Invitational.
 
NEXT UP
The Waves continue with the Outrigger Invitational on Saturday at 9 p.m. against tournament host and #2-ranked Hawai'i.  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.