MALIBU, California – The #2 BYU men's volleyball team had everything clicking offensively on Saturday afternoon and the result was a three-set (25-21, 25-14, 25-20) victory over #4 Pepperdine in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action.
 
The Cougars (12-2, 12-2), who are positioned atop the MPSF standings, defeated the Waves (8-5, 8-5) for the second time in two days thanks to a .460 hitting percentage.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had team highs of nine kills and two service aces.
• Senior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) posted eight kills on 12 errorless swings for a .667 hitting percentage. He also had a team-high high four blocks.
• Freshman setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) gave out 23 assists.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .208 overall (.231 set one, .136 set two, .250 set three)
• BYU hitting: .460 overall (.304 set one, .684 set two, .429 set three)
• Service Aces: PEPP 3, BYU 2
• Digs: PEPP 11, BYU 21
• Blocks: PEPP 5.0, BYU 11.5
• BYU got a match-high 12 kills from Gabi Garcia Fernandez.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
BYU got out a 9-4 lead in the first set. A pair of Steele service aces later got Pepperdine back within a point at 10-9. The Cougars went back ahead by five at 16-11, though the Waves had another comeback in them, fueled by Wilmot, who had two kills and a solo block in helping to tie the set at 18. But with BYU leading 20-19, the Cougars ran off four straight points, and then closed it out on their third set point.
 
BYU was most unstoppable in the second set, hitting .684 with 15 kills and just two errors. It was tied 6-6 when the Cougars went ahead for good, as they went up by five at 12-7, by eight at 17-9 and by as many as 11 at 24-13.
 
The third set's final tie came at 3-3 as the Cougars scored the next three points and the Waves had to play from behind the rest of the way. At 11-9, BYU scored five straight to make it 16-9. The lead was eight at 19-11. A 3-0 run by the Waves with kills by redshirt freshman opposite Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS) and senior outside hitter Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) forced a BYU timeout at 21-17, but the teams went sideout on every point the rest of the way.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine hosts #7 Grand Canyon for three consecutive matches next weekend (Friday-Sunday, March 26-28). All three matches will be streamed online via WaveCasts. Due to current state and local COVID-19 protocols, fans will not be permitted.