LONG BEACH, California – The #9 Pepperdine men's volleyball team took a set off the defending national champs, but #4 Long Beach State eventually earned a four-set victory (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-15) in non-conference play on Saturday night.
 
The Beach (5-0) earned their 45th consecutive home victory at the Walter Pyramid with the win over the Waves (3-2).
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore outside hitter Ben Weinberg (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS) had a career-high 14 kills to lead the Waves. He also had seven digs and two blocks.
• Redshirt freshman opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had 12 kills, four digs and three blocks.
• Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) had 11 kills and seven digs.
• Junior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had eight kills and three 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 30 assists and four digs and Karlous had 11 assists.
• Redshirt freshman libero Diego Perez (Irvine, Calif./Corona del Mar HS/Orange Coast CC) had a match-high 11 digs.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .262 overall (.345 set one, .292 set two, .295 set three, .121 set four)
• LBSU hitting: .318 overall (.250 set one, .458 set two, .256 set three, .367 set four)
• Service Aces: PEPP 1, LBSU 6
• Digs: PEPP 39, LBSU 46
• Blocks: PEPP 7.0, LBSU 10.5
• Long Beach State was led by Ethan Siegfried's 15 kills and 10 digs.

 PLAY BY PLAY
 
In the first set, the Waves took a 12-9 lead after a Weinberg kill. Long Beach State eventually tied it at 15. It was still tied at 19 when the Beach then ran off three straight points. The Waves were within a point multiple times but couldn't even it up before the first set ended at 25-23.
 
Set two remained close for quite a while, and it was tied at 12 when the Beach scored two in a row to take the lead for good. Long Beach State scored repeatedly off its serve the rest of the way and took the second set 25-18.
 
The Waves came out determined to extend the match in set three. A pair of Weinberg kills made it 12-9 in Pepperdine's favor. The Beach tied it at 14, but Pepperdine scored the next three points, two of them on kills by Steele and Dyer. A block by Wilmot and freshman opposite Scott Solan (Las Vegas, Nev./West Career & Technical Academy) made it 21-17, and the Waves went on to win the third 25-22 with a Dyer kill the final point.
 
Long Beach State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set and never let up, however. Their leads grew to 10-4, 14-6 and 19-11 before they finished the match with a 25-15 win.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves have next weekend off, and then return to action with the first two MPSF matches of the season when they visit Stanford (Thursday, Feb. 6) and BYU (Saturday, Feb. 8).