FAIRFAX, Virginia – The #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team was defeated for the first time in 2020, as the Waves ended their East Coast trip with a four-set loss at #13 George Mason, 25-22, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21, on Friday evening.
Neither the Waves (3-1) or Patriots (2-2) hit very well, and a big blocking edge helped put George Mason over the top.
BIG WAVES
- Sophomore outside hitter Ben Weinberg (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS) had 11 kills and hit .320 (11-3-25), and also added nine digs and two blocks.
- Redshirt freshman opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had 11 kills and two blocks.
- Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) had nine kills, four aces and four digs.
- Junior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had seven kills and four blocks.
- Senior Rob Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) and freshman Joe Karlous (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) shared time at setter. Mullahey had 24 assists and six digs, while Karlous had 13 assists.
MATCH STATS
- PEPP hitting: .188 overall (.100 set one, .381 set two, .139 set three, .200 set four)
- GMU hitting: .191 overall (.242 set one, .000 set two, .231 set three, .233 set four)
- Service Aces: PEPP 5, GMU 2
- Digs: PEPP 27, GMU 38
- Blocks: PEPP 8.0, GMU 16.5
- George Mason was led by Richie Hoff's 12 kills.
PLAY BY PLAY
Things were looking good in the first set when the Waves got kills from Steele and Weinberg to go up 21-18, but the Patriots then scored the next six points, the last three on blocks, to go up 24-21, and they'd win the set two points later.
The Waves rebounded nicely in set two, leading wire to wire. At 14-13, Pepperdine scored three straight points on a Wilmot kill, a GMU attack error and a block by freshman opposite
Scott Solan (Las Vegas, Nev./West Career & Technical Academy). The Waves would expand on that lead when Dyer collected back-to-back service aces to make it 22-16. A kill by Steele and a block by Steele and Wilmot then tied the match at a set apiece.
The Waves continued to play well early in set three and went ahead 14-9 after a 3-0 run and a Weinberg kill. But George Mason quickly tied it back up at 15. At 17-17, the Patriots scored three straight points and went on to go ahead 2-1.
George Mason scored the first three points in set four and at 5-1 Pepperdine took its first timeout. The Waves would get back to within two at 5-3, but no closer than that for the rest of the set. George Mason went up by six at 16-10 and seven at 19-12 and held off any hope of a Waves comeback.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine comes back home, but still plays on the road the next time out with a visit to defending national champion Long Beach State on Saturday (January 25) at 7 p.m.
