IRVINE, California – The #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team's first road match was a successful one, as the Waves swept #12 Concordia, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19, on Wednesday night in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action.
The Waves (2-0) won both ends of a season-opening home-and-home against the Eagles (0-2) and improved to 8-0 all-time against CUI.
BIG WAVES
- Senior outside hitter Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) had team highs of 10 kills and eight digs while hitting .421 (10-2-19).
- Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) recorded eight kills.
- Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) posted seven kills.
- Freshman middle blocker Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS) had six kills, hitting .600 (6-0-10), and led the Waves with five blocks.
- Freshman setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) handed out 31 assists and had five digs and four service aces.
MATCH STATS
- PEPP hitting: .387 overall (.321 set one, .417 set two, .435 set three)
- CUI hitting: .265 overall (.265 set one, .357 set two, .143 set three)
- Service Aces: PEPP 6, CUI 3
- Digs: PEPP 25, CUI 24
- Blocks: PEPP 6.0, CUI 1.0
- Concordia was led by Raymond Barsemian's 21 kills.
PLAY BY PLAY
Set one was tied 16-16 when the Waves scored four straight points on a kill and a block by Fuller, followed by kills by Dvorak and Steele. Pepperdine eventually won the set on a kill by Wickens.
The Waves scored the first two points of the second set and never trailed. Pepperdine built a five-point lead at 12-7 after a CUI attack error. The Eagles would get within a point a couple of times, but a Steele kill helped Pepperdine extend the lead back up to 21-18, and Pepperdine later went up 2-0 on a block by Steele and Fuller.
The third set was close throughout before the Waves finally pulled away at the end for the three-set sweep.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine was slated to visit USC next week, but the Trojans are on a COVID-19 pause and the match has been postponed. The next scheduled matches are February 12-13 at BYU.