MALIBU, California – Austin Wilmot and Bryce Dvorak both posted multiple career highs in helping the #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team to a hard-fought five-set victory (25-20, 21-25, 30-28, 21-25, 15-4) over visiting #9 Grand Canyon on Saturday evening in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
 
The Waves (10-5, 10-5) beat the Lopes (4-7, 4-7) for the second straight day and will go for the three-match sweep on Sunday.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had a career-high 17 kills on a career-best .640 hitting (17-1-25). He also had a match-high five blocks.
• Freshman setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) posted new bests of 47 assists and 17 digs, good for his first career double-double. He also had three kills (tying his career high) and two service aces.
• Senior outside hitter Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) had 16 kills and seven digs.
• Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) had 15 kills, three digs and three blocks.
• Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) notched nine kills and seven digs.
• Freshman libero Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS) recorded nine digs.

MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .372 overall (.500 set one, .296 set two, .351 set three, .270 set four, .875 set five)
• GCU hitting: .257 overall (.400 set one, .353 set two, .237 set three, .250 set four, -.167 set five)
• Service Aces: PEPP 5, GCU 7
• Digs: PEPP 45, GCU 42
• Blocks: PEPP 8.0, GCU 8.5
• Grand Canyon was led by Christian Janke's 17 kills.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set, and took a lead by as many as eight points at 20-12 after a service ace by freshman middle blocker Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS). Fuller eventually ended the first set with a kill.
 
GCU returned the favor in the second set, going up 6-2 and 8-3. Pepperdine came back to tie it at 14. But tied at 16, the Lopes scored the next two points, then took leads of 21-17 and 23-18 before evening the match.
 
Momentum swung back the Waves' way for the first half of the third set, as a 5-0 run that included a Dvorak service ace and two blocks by Wilmot and Steele made it an eight-point lead at 14-6. But GCU recovered, and tied the set at 18. The Waves had three set points at 24-21 but GCU tied it again at 24. The Lopes had a set point of their own at 27-26 but had a service error. Tied at 27, the Waves got the advantage back on a Wilmot block, and eventually took a 2-1 lead after back-to-back kills by Wilmot and Steele.
 
The fourth set played out much like the second. GCU took leads of 3-0, 5-1, 9-4 and 11-5. Pepperdine closed to within a point several times, first at 17-16 and last at 21-20. But GCU scored the next three points and tied the match at two sets apiece.
 
The fifth set was all Pepperdine, as the Waves were successful on seven of their eight attacks (with six different players getting at least one kill), while the Lopes were limited to three kills with five attack errors. At 1-1, the Waves scored four straight points on a Wickens kill, a block by Wilmot and Wickens, and kills by Steele and Wilmot. Another 4-0 run, which included a Wilmot service ace, made it 9-2. At 10-4, the Waves ended the match with five straight points, including a match-ending block by Fuller and Dvorak.
 
UP NEXT
 
The finale of this three-match series between Pepperdine and Grand Canyon is Sunday (March 28) at 5 p.m. It will be streamed online via WaveCasts. Due to current state and local COVID-19 protocols, fans will not be permitted.