MALIBU, California – Four Waves had at least 13 kills and the #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Concordia-Irvine in five sets – 22-25, 29-31, 25-22, 25-20, 15-13 -- on Wednesday night in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action.
 
Both of the Waves' (5-3, 2-1) MPSF victories have come in five sets. Concordia fell to 6-7, 1-1.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) had a career-high 18 kills to go with 11 digs for his first double-double of the season. He hit .417 (18-3-36) on the night.
• Junior outside hitter Alex Gettinger (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS) set a career high for the third straight match by collecting 16 kills, along with eight digs and three blocks.
• Junior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had 16 kills and four blocks.
• Redshirt freshman opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had 13 kills and six digs.
• Freshman setter Joe Karlous (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) posted his first career double-double with season highs of 59 assists, 11 digs and four blocks.
• Redshirt freshman middle blocker JT Ardell (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS) had career highs of six kills (on .500 hitting at 6-1-10) and seven blocks.
• Redshirt freshman libero Diego Perez (Irvine, Calif./Corona del Mar HS/Orange Coast CC) notched nine digs.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .319 overall (.241 set one, .341 set two, .321 set three, .400 set four, .278 set five)
• CUI hitting: .311 overall (.323 set one, .500 set two, .167 set three, .208 set four, .312 set five)
• Service Aces: PEPP 2, CUI 4
• Digs: PEPP 47, CUI 40
• Blocks: PEPP 11.0, CUI 8.5
• Concordia was led by Raymond Barsemian's 28 kills.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Set one was tied 11 times, last at 21. But the Eagles scored the next three points to go up 24-21, and eventually finished it off on a Pepperdine service error.
 
The Waves had a golden opportunity to tie the match up in set two as they led 24-22. But the Eagles recorded back-to-back blocks to extend the set. Pepperdine served for the set five times, but Concordia held each time. The Eagles eventually took the lead at 29-28. Tied at 29, Concordia went up 2-0 with two straight kills.
 
The Waves responded with a good finish to set three. Tied at 18, the Waves got a kill by Wilmot and then a block by Wilmot and Gettinger to go up 20-18. The teams traded points the rest of the way and Pepperdine finished it on a block by Gettinger and Ardell.
 
Pepperdine went up early in set four and maintained the lead throughout. Kills by Dyer and Steele made it 8-5. An Ardell kill later put Pepperdine ahead 15-11. A CUI attack error gave Pepperdine a five-point lead at 19-14. Concordia closed within two at 20-18, but three straight Pepperdine points rebuilt the advantage and the Waves sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
The Waves took an early 5-3 lead after a kill by Steele, and had a 10-7 lead after a Wilmot block. But Concordia tied the match at 10, and eventually took the lead at 12-11. But after an Eagle service error, Karlous dealt a service ace to give the advantage back to the Waves. Tied at 13, the Waves ended the match on kills by Dyer and Gettinger.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves are home again on Friday (Feb. 14) for another MPSF matchup against USC at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed online via WaveCasts.