PROVO, Utah – The #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team once again took a set off a highly ranked team on the road, but couldn't put a dent in #2 BYU's undefeated record in a four-set loss (25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20) on Saturday night in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
 
The Waves dropped to 4-3 overall and 1-1 after the first weekend of MPSF play, while the Cougars improved to 12-0, 2-0, and are off to their best start in more than a decade.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) had a team-high 12 kills.
• Redshirt freshman opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had 11 kills, four digs and three blocks.
• Junior outside hitter Alex Gettinger (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS) had a nice performance coming off the bench with 11 kills and a .714 attack percentage (11-1-14), along with three digs.
• Junior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had eight kills while hitting .727 (8-0-11) and added four blocks.
• Freshman setter Joe Karlous (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) posted 43 assists and five digs.
• Redshirt freshman libero Diego Perez (Irvine, Calif./Corona del Mar HS/Orange Coast CC) had a team-high eight digs.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .278 overall (.067 set one, .435 set two, .375 set three, .290 set four)
• BYU hitting: .327 overall (.393 set one, .300 set two, .233 set three, .391 set four)
• Service Aces: PEPP 3, BYU 5
• Digs: PEPP 28, BYU 28
• Blocks: PEPP 6.0, BYU 12.5
• BYU was led by Gabi Garcia Fernandez' 14 kills.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Cougars jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first set. The Waves closed the gap to two points at 11-9, but the Cougars ran off the next seven points to double Pepperdine up at 18-9. The Waves got no closer than six the rest of the set. BYU's blocking was the different in the first set as the Cougars recorded eight blocks.
 
Pepperdine jumped out to a 4-1 lead in set two after a Dyer ace. BYU would tie it at seven, however. The set was tied at 18 but BYU scored three straight on a pair of attack errors and an ace, and that three-point margin would last and make it a two-set lead for the Cougars.
 
Set three was close throughout, but Pepperdine eventually prevailed to extend the match. Down 19-18, the Waves scored twice on a Karlous kill and a block by Dyer and redshirt freshman middle blocker JT Ardell (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS). Tied at 20, the Waves scored three straight points on kills by Gettinger and Steele and a BYU attack error. The teams traded points the rest of the way with Pepperdine claiming the set on a BYU service error.
 
Neither team could take an early advantage in set four, and it stayed close until it was 13-13. BYU then scored four of the next five points, and later ran off three more in a row to make it 20-15. Pepperdine got no closer than three near the end.
 
UP NEXT
 
After a month of matches away from Firestone Fieldhouse, the Waves finally return home and continue MPSF play with matches against Concordia (Wednesday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m.) and USC (Friday, Feb. 14, 7 p.m.). Both matches will be streamed online via WaveCasts.