Thursday, April 18
Malibu, Calif.
5:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
21-6
3
vs
0
BYU (MPSF Semifinal)
13-12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BYU | 17 | 23 | 18 | 0 |
| Pepperdine | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
David Wieczorek
Photo by: Martin A. Folb
Waves Sweep BYU in MPSF Semifinals
4/18/2019 8:20:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
MALIBU, California – David Wieczorek and Michael Wexter combined for 28 of the Waves' 40 kills as the top-seeded and fourth-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball team swept BYU, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18, in Thursday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals.
The Waves (21-6) now advance to Saturday's championship match in Firestone Fieldhouse against USC. The fifth-seeded and 12th-ranked Cougars end their season with a 13-12 record.
Pepperdine, the MPSF's regular-season champion, will be trying to add its first MPSF Tournament title since 2008.
BIG WAVES
The Waves never trailed in the first set. At 11-10, Pepperdine went on a 5-1 run that included a kill by Wexter and an ace by Denmark. At 17-14, the Waves ran off five straight points, which included a pair of Wieczorek kills and two Cougar attack errors. Kevin Vaz ended the set at 25-17 with a kill.
BYU's only lead of the entire match came early in the second set when the Cougars scored the first three points to go up 3-0. But the Waves evened it up at 4-4, and went ahead 6-4 after a BYU hitting error and a Chamberlain ace. The Waves took a couple of sizeable leads at 14-9 and 18-13, through the Cougars would tighten the score up late, getting within a point at 23-22 and 24-23, though Wexter ended the second set with a kill.
The Waves made it clear that they wanted to make it a short night, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the third set. They repeatedly scored off their serve, going ahead at scores of 10-6, 13-8, 16-9 and 19-10, the nine-point advantage coming after back-to-back Chamberlain service aces. The Cougars got no closer than five points the rest of the way. Pepperdine had its best hitting set of the night at .609 (16-2-23).
UP NEXT
Saturday's championship match will start in Firestone Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Third-seeded USC defeated second-seeded UCLA in four sets in the second semifinal on Thursday night.
The NCAA Tournament selection show will air on NCAA.com at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Gallery: (4/18/2019) Men's Volleyball vs. BYU (MPSF Semis)
The Waves (21-6) now advance to Saturday's championship match in Firestone Fieldhouse against USC. The fifth-seeded and 12th-ranked Cougars end their season with a 13-12 record.
Pepperdine, the MPSF's regular-season champion, will be trying to add its first MPSF Tournament title since 2008.
BIG WAVES
- Senior outside hitter David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) had a match-high 16 kills on .520 hitting (16-3-25). He also had three digs.
- Senior opposite Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS) added 12 kills while hitting a career-best .579 (12-1-19). He had a pair of service aces and six digs.
- Senior outside hitter Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy) contributed seven kills, four digs and an ace.
- Sophomore setter Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) handed out 32 assists and posted five digs.
- Senior middle blocker Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS) had three kills, three aces, two digs and two blocks.
- PEPP hitting: .392 overall (.393 set one, .174 set two, .609 set three)
- BYU hitting: .217 overall (.200 set one, .136 set two, .318 set three)
- Service Aces: PEPP 7, BYU 2
- Digs: PEPP 24, BYU 18
- Blocks: PEPP 2.0, BYU 5.0
- BYU was led by Davide Gardini and Gabi Garcia Fernandez, who had 10 kills apiece.
The Waves never trailed in the first set. At 11-10, Pepperdine went on a 5-1 run that included a kill by Wexter and an ace by Denmark. At 17-14, the Waves ran off five straight points, which included a pair of Wieczorek kills and two Cougar attack errors. Kevin Vaz ended the set at 25-17 with a kill.
BYU's only lead of the entire match came early in the second set when the Cougars scored the first three points to go up 3-0. But the Waves evened it up at 4-4, and went ahead 6-4 after a BYU hitting error and a Chamberlain ace. The Waves took a couple of sizeable leads at 14-9 and 18-13, through the Cougars would tighten the score up late, getting within a point at 23-22 and 24-23, though Wexter ended the second set with a kill.
The Waves made it clear that they wanted to make it a short night, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the third set. They repeatedly scored off their serve, going ahead at scores of 10-6, 13-8, 16-9 and 19-10, the nine-point advantage coming after back-to-back Chamberlain service aces. The Cougars got no closer than five points the rest of the way. Pepperdine had its best hitting set of the night at .609 (16-2-23).
UP NEXT
Saturday's championship match will start in Firestone Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Third-seeded USC defeated second-seeded UCLA in four sets in the second semifinal on Thursday night.
The NCAA Tournament selection show will air on NCAA.com at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Team Stats
BYU
PEP
Kills
28
40
Errors
13
11
Attempts
69
74
Hitting %
.217
.392
Points
35.0
49.0
Assists
23
37
Aces
2
7
Blocks
5.0
2.0
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
3
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
