MALIBU, California – The #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team opened up a three-match series with #9 Grand Canyon with a three-set home sweep (25-22, 25-20, 25-21) in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Friday afternoon.
 
The Waves (9-5, 9-5) outhit the Lopes (4-6, 4-6) .375 to .275.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had 12 kills on .588 hitting (12-2-17), along with three digs and two blocks.
• Senior outside hitter Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) had 12 kills on .474 hitting (12-3-19) plus four digs.
• Senior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had seven kills and a match-high five blocks.
• Freshman setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) had 37 assists and five digs.
• Freshman libero Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS) had a match-high nine digs.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .375 overall (.300 set one, .542 set two, .278 set three)
• GCU hitting: .275 overall (.273 set one, .375 set two, .154 set three)
• Service Aces: PEPP 2, GCU 4
• Digs: PEPP 26, GCU 15
• Blocks: PEPP 9.5, GCU 5.5
• Grand Canyon got a match-high 13 kills from Hugo Fischer.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Grand Canyon got off to a terrific start, jumping out to a 5-1 lead, but it didn't last. The Waves tied the first set at nine on a Wilmot kill. The last tie of the set came at 13, and then Wickens had a kill and Wilmot had a solo block. Pepperdine's lead grew to three at 18-15 after a Steele service ace, and later 21-16 after a pair of Steele kills and a GCU attack error. The Waves eventually ended the first set on a Wilmot kill.
 
An early 4-0 run that included kills by Wickens and Steele and a solo block by Wilmot put Pepperdine up 7-3 in the second set. GCU closed to within a point at 11-10, but the Waves scored the next two points, including a kill by the libero, Cole, when he dug an attack and returned the ball to the other side of the court, where it fell in for a point. Pepperdine went up by four at 19-15 after a GCU attack error, and by five at 24-19 on a service ace by senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS). Two points later, Wickens put the Waves up 2-0 with a kill.
 
Trailing 6-5 in the third set, the Waves went on a 5-0 run that included a pair of blocks featuring freshman middle blocker Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS), the first with Dvorak and the second with Dyer, followed by two GCU attack errors. The Lopes would close the gap, getting to within one point at 13-12 and eventually tying the set at 19. But after a Pepperdine timeout, the Waves ran off four straight points – a kill by Wickens, a block by Fuller, then kills by Wickens and Fuller – to make it 23-19. The teams sided out the rest of the way and the match ended on a Steele kill.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine and Grand Canyon meet again on both Saturday and Sunday (March 27-28) at 5 p.m. All matches will be streamed online via WaveCasts. Due to current state and local COVID-19 protocols, fans will not be permitted.