MALIBU, California — The #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team, after a week off, attempts to continue its good start to the season with a pair of matches at #1 BYU this weekend.
MATCH #3 — Friday (February 12) at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah: #7 Pepperdine (2-0, 2-0) at #1 BYU (1-1, 1-1) at 7 p.m. MT / 6 p.m. PT.
MATCH #4 — Saturday (February 13) at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah: #7 Pepperdine at #1 BYU at 7 p.m. MT / 6 p.m. PT.
WATCH/ONLINE — Both matches will be televised by BYUtv and shown online at BYUtv.org. Links to broadcasts and live stats can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
ATTENDANCE — Per the current COVID-19 guidelines set by the state of California and Los Angeles County, fans will not be permitted to attend home matches in Firestone Fieldhouse.
OPPONENT — Pepperdine is 36-33 all-time against BYU. The Waves lost 3-1 in Provo in 2020 in their only meeting last year. Pepperdine has lost three straight in Provo, last winning there in 2016, and is 11-22 there all-time.
LAST TIME OUT — The Waves began the 2021 season with a pair of victories over then-#12 Concordia two weeks ago, 3-2 at home and 3-0 on the road. Pepperdine battled back from a set down twice to edge the Eagles in the first match. The road match wasn't as close with the three-set sweep. The Waves hit .300 to the Eagles' .234 over the two matches.
AWARDS — Spencer Wickens and
Trey Cole took home the season's first MPSF Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards, respectively, on February 1. Wickens averaged 4.12 kills and hit .500 in the two matches against Concordia, while Cole averaged 2.88 digs. Cole was also named Off the Block's National Freshman of the Week.
FIRST STARTS — Although the Waves have almost their entire 2020 starting lineup back, a number of players were first-time starters in the first week of the season, including freshman setter
Bryce Dvorak, freshman libero
Trey Cole, freshman middle blocker
Andersen Fuller and redshirt freshman opposite Akin Akimwumi.
SCHEDULE UPDATES — Three of the season's first seven matches have been postponed by the opponents' COVID-19 pauses. Matches against USC (Feb. 4) and Concordia (Feb. 17 and 19) have yet to be rescheduled.
RANKINGS — The Waves are currently ranked seventh nationally in the AVCA poll. They began the year tied for seventh, moved up to sixth after winning twice, and dropped back to seventh after being idle last week. The Waves are up to #5 in Off the Block's media poll.
MPSF — The MPSF is only playing conference matches in 2021 ... The Waves were picked second in the MPSF preseason coaches poll. The order went as follows: BYU, Pepperdine, UCLA, Grand Canyon, Concordia, Stanford and USC.
ROSTER NUMBERS — Pepperdine returns all six starters from a year ago, only losing last year's libero, and has eight players back who started at least half the season's matches.
Noah Dyer and
Austin Wilmot are returning All-Americans, as both received AVCA honorable mention status. Dyer elected to return for a fifth season under the NCAA's COVID-19 redshirt waiver. Setter
Joe Karlous made the MPSF All-Freshman team. The 2020 Waves brought back just 3% of the kill total from the 2019 MPSF champions. The 2021 Waves return 99.3% of the 2020 kill totals. Pepperdine's roster consists of one graduate transfer, six seniors, one junior, five sophomores, four redshirt freshmen and six true freshmen.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports — one of just 18 schools to have accomplished this feat — and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, California, the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
