AMHERST, New York – The #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team had a successful first road match of the season, as the Waves went cross-country to defeat Daemen in three sets, 25-19, 25-20, 25-15, on Tuesday night.
 
The Waves (2-0) outhit the Wildcats (0-2), an NCAA Division II school in its second season of competition, .383 to .153.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) led all players with 12 kills on .550 hitting (12-1-20). He also had five digs, three blocks and an ace.
• Redshirt freshman opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) was second on the squad with six kills.
• Sophomore outside hitter Ben Weinberg (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS) and redshirt freshman libero Diego Perez (Irvine, Calif./Corona del Mar HS/Orange Coast CC) each finished with a match-high six digs. Weinberg also had three aces.
• Senior setter Rob Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) handed out 17 assists.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .383 overall (.333 set one, .304 set two, .562 set three)
• DC hitting: .153 overall (.125 set one, .231 set two, .091 set three)
• Service Aces: PEPP 7, DC 4
• Digs: PEPP 24, DC 17
• Blocks: PEPP 6.0, DC 7.0
• Daemen was led by Zach Yerington's 10 kills.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Aces by Steele and Weinberg helped the Waves get out to a 12-6 lead in the first set, although the Wildcats immediately came back with a 5-0 run. Pepperdine came right back with the next three points, including a kill by Dyer, to go ahead 15-11. At 16-12, the Waves scored three times with Mullahey serving, and the Waves eventually ended it on a kill by freshman opposite Scott Solan (Las Vegas, Nev./West Career & Technical Academy).
 
The Wildcats had another comeback in them in set two, as the Waves took a 13-8 lead before Daemen tied it at 15. Tied at 16, Pepperdine went back up for good with a 6-0 run that included kills by Solan and Dyer, an block by Dyer and junior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) and an ace by Weinberg. Steele ended the second set with a kill.
 
Pepperdine was unstoppable in set three, recording 10 kills against just one attack error. The Waves scored points on their serve seven times among the first eight servers. It was still close at 12-11 when the Waves went on a 7-1 run that included a pair of kills from Dyer. Daemen couldn't put much of a dent in that lead and Pepperdine closed out the match on a Solan kill.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine's three-match East Coast road trip continues on Wednesday (Jan. 15) with a 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET contest against Harvard that will be hosted by Daemen.