Three Days, Three Men's Volleyball Wins Over GCU

Sunday, March 28

Malibu, Calif.

5:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

11-5, 11-5MPSF

Grand Canyon

4-8, 4-8MPSF

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Grand Canyon	27	24	18	0
Pepperdine	29	26	25	3

Jacob Steele

Photo by: Martin A. Folb

3/28/2021 7:57:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Interviews Box Score Photo Gallery

By: by Athletic Communications

MALIBU, California – The #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team hit a season-high .416 to sweep #9 Grand Canyon (29-27, 26-24, 25-18) on Sunday as the Waves beat the Lopes for the third time in three days in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action.

The Waves improved to 11-5 overall and 11-5 in MPSF play and dropped the Lopes to 4-8, 4-8. Pepperdine won this weekend's series in three sets, five sets and three sets.

BIG WAVES

Senior outside hitter Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) had team highs of 14 kills and eight digs and hit .500 (14-2-24).
Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) recorded 12 kills, four digs and two service aces.
Freshman setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) quarterbacked the offense to its season-best hitting mark and handed out 38 assists while contributing three block assists.
Senior outside hitter Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) hit .700 with seven kills on 10 errorless swings, and added three digs.
Senior middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) had six kills and three blocks.

MATCH STATS

PEPP hitting: .416 overall (.476 set one, .324 set two, .500 set three)
GCU hitting: .313 overall (.286 set one, .321 set two, .350 set three)
Service Aces: PEPP 5, GCU 3
Digs: PEPP 24, GCU 18
Blocks: PEPP 5.0, GCU 6.5
Grand Canyon got 14 kills from Hugo Fischer.

PLAY BY PLAY

Though Pepperdine scored three of the match's first four points, Grand Canyon came back and took a 12-9 lead in set one. Pepperdine tied it at 14 on a Steele kill. It was tied again at 17, though GCU scored the next two points, and the Lopes still led by two at 24-22. Facing two set points, the Waves ran off three straight points, two of them on Steele kills. Tied at 27, Pepperdine finally claimed the first set after a kill by Wickens and a GCU attack error.

GCU got out to a 3-1 lead in set two, but the Waves tied it at six. A 4-0 run that saw two kills by Steele and two blocks by Dvorak and freshman middle blocker Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS) made it 11-7. Pepperdine's lead was still four at 19-15, and again at 22-18. But the Lopes scored four straight to make it 22-22. The teams sided out until it was tied at 24, and then the Waves won the set after kills by Steele and Dyer.

After a pair of two-point sets, the Waves made things easier on themselves in the final one. Pepperdine went up 6-3 after a Steele service ace. Though the Lopes closed within one point at 7-6, the Waves went on a 6-0 run that included an ace by Fuller, kills by Dyer, Wickens and Dvorak, and a block by Wilmot and Dvorak. Pepperdine's lead grew to eight at 18-10 after another Steele ace, to nine at 20-11 on a kill by Fuller, and to 10 at 22-12 on a service ace by senior outside hitter Alex Gettinger (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS). The Waves eventually closed out the match on a Wickens kill. Pepperdine had 14 kills and just three errors in hitting .500 in the final set.

UP NEXT

Pepperdine's home finale is this Wednesday (March 31) against UCLA at 3 p.m. It will be streamed online via WaveCasts. Due to current state and local COVID-19 protocols, fans will not be permitted.