SANTA BARBARA, California – The #6 Pepperdine men's volleyball team was swept for the first time this season, but it came on the road in a competitive match at #3 UC Santa Barbara, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23, in non-conference play on Friday night.
 
The Gauchos (10-2) hit an opponent-season-high .417 while the Waves (6-4) hit a season-low .181.
 
Three of the Waves' four losses this season have come on the road to teams ranked in the AVCA's top four at the time of the match.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) led the Waves with 11 kills while also collecting three blocks.
• Junior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had eight kills and hit .429 (8-2-14).
• Redshirt freshman middle blocker JT Ardell (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS) had team highs of four blocks and two service aces.
• Freshman setter Joe Karlous (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) handed out 26 assists and had five digs and three blocks.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .181 overall (.333 set one, -.038 set two, .280 set three)
• UCSB hitting: .417 overall (.538 set one, .345 set two, .379 set three)
• Service Aces: PEPP 3, UCSB 2
• Digs: PEPP 16, UCSB 26
• Blocks: PEPP 7.0, UCSB 7.5
• UC Santa Barbara was led by Randy DeWeese's 13 kills.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves got out to a 4-3 lead in set one but the Gauchos went on a 5-1 run and repeatedly scored on their serve until Pepperdine called timeout at 12-7. UCSB then extended the lead to 19-12. The Waves fought off a couple of set points on a Dyer kill and a Gaucho attack error before UCSB finally took the first set 25-19.
 
UCSB scored the first three points of the second set but the Waves tied it at six after a pair of blocks involving Karlous, Dyer and Ardell. The Waves were down by three again at 11-8 but tied it at 11 after two service aces by Ardell. The Waves took a couple of one-point leads, last at 16-15 after a Dyer kill. The Gauchos scored four straight to go ahead 19-16, though the Waves would bounce back with a 4-1 run with kills by freshman opposite Scott Solan (Las Vegas, Nev./West Career & Technical Academy) and Dyer to tie the set at 21. But UCSB ran off the final four points of the set to go up 2-0.
 
The Gauchos jumped out to a 7-4 lead in set three but the Waves pushed back in the most competitive set of the night. Pepperdine tied it at 11, went ahead 18-17 on a Wilmot solo block and took a two-point lead at 20-18 after a kill and a service ace by junior Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS). UCSB regrouped after a timeout, tying the match at 20 and then scoring four straight to go up 24-21. Ardell had a kill and shared a block with Solan to hold off match point briefly, but UCSB ended the set and match at 25-23.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves head to #13 Grand Canyon for an MPSF match on Sunday (Feb. 23) at 2 p.m. MT / 1 p.m. PT.