PROVO, Utah – After a rough start, the #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team came back with a stronger effort the next two sets, but the end result was a three-set loss (25-6, 25-23, 28-26) at #1 BYU on Friday night in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
 
It was the first of two matches this weekend between the Waves (2-1, 2-1) and the Cougars (2-1, 2-1).
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had a team-high 11 kills.
• Senior outside hitter Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) recorded nine kills and a team-high five digs.
• Senior outside hitter Alex Gettinger (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS) posted nine kills.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .191 overall (-.150 set one, .261 set two, .400 set three)
• BYU hitting: .449 overall (.786 set one, .400 set two, .353 set three)
• Service Aces: PEPP 0, BYU 3
• Digs: PEPP 14, BYU 18
• Blocks: PEPP 4.0, BYU 6.0
• Gabi Garcia Fernandez had 15 kills while hitting .833 (15-0-18) to lead the Cougars.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
BYU could do no wrong in the first set, jumping out to an 8-1 lead, going on a 7-0 run to make it 16-3, and later finishing the set on an 8-1 run. The Waves had three kills and six hitting errors, while the Cougars had 11 kills and zero errors.
 
The Waves came back in a big way in the second set. It was close throughout, with 18 ties and seven lead changes. The Cougars' largest lead of the set was two points, while the Waves led by one on several occasions, last at 21-20 after a block by freshman setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) and senior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine). But tied at 23, the Waves had back-to-back attack errors to let BYU go up 2-0.
 
Pepperdine built a 3-1 lead early in set two, but BYU would eventually go up three at 11-8 and five at 16-11, 17-12 and 18-13. But the Waves scored the next five points – a kill by Wickens, two kills by Gettinger, a block by Steele and grad transfer middle blocker Chris Orem (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley HS/UCLA) and a BYU attack error – to even the set at 18. Down 22-20, the Waves scored three straight points to go ahead 23-22, and Pepperdine served for the set at 24-23, though BYU held. At 26-26, the Cougars finally ended it with a pair of kills.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves and Cougars meet for the second time in as many nights when they battle again in the Smith Fieldhouse at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT on Saturday (Feb. 13). The match will be televised by BYUtv.