PHOENIX, Arizona – Spencer Wickens recorded 20 kills and Jaylen Jasper had 19 as the #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team began Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with an impressive four-set (40-42, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20) victory at #10 Grand Canyon on Friday night.
 
The Lopes (6-6, 0-1) opened the match by winning one of the longest sets in program history, but the Waves (6-3, 1-0) came back to win decisively in the next three while hitting .402 on the night.
 
BIG WAVES

• Graduate outside hitter Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) hit the 20-kill mark for the first time this season and the second time in his career. He hit .432 (20-4-37) and added four digs and two blocks.
• Graduate opposite Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Stanford), the reigning MPSF Offensive Player of the Week, added seven digs and three blocks to his 19 kills.
• Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) contributed 10 kills and seven digs.
• Sophomore setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) handed out 50 assists and posted five digs and three service aces.
• Sophomore libero Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS) tied his season high with 11 digs. It was his second time this season and the third time in his career with double-figure digs.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The marathon first set was the longest that Pepperdine has been involved in since the NCAA changed to 25-point sets in 2011. It featured 32 ties and 10 lead changes. GCU fought off seven set points. The Waves forced a sideout on the Lopes' first 10 set points. Pepperdine's biggest lead of the set was three points, first at 16-13 and again at 17-14. GCU never led by more than two points. Tied at 40, GCU got a kill, and then the Waves were called for a bad set.
 
The Waves quickly took control in set two to even up the match. Graduate middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) and Wickens had solo blocks in a 5-1 run as Pepperdine took a 10-7 lead. The lead grew to 12-8 after a Wilmot ace, 14-9 after a Jasper ace and 17-11 after a Dvorak kill. The Lopes got no closer than three the rest of the way. Junior outside hitter Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS) wrapped up the set with a kill.
 
Pepperdine never trailed in set three, but GCU kept things close for a long while. At 18-17, the Waves ran off three straight points, capped off by a Jasper kill. At 22-19, Pepperdine scored the final three points of the set on a Steele kill and a pair of Dvorak aces.
 
GCU got out to a 7-5 lead in set four, but an early Pepperdine timeout switched the momentum back to the Waves. Tied at 11, Pepperdine ran off five straight points, which included an ace by Steele. GCU wouldn't get any closer than three points after that. At 22-19, the Waves scored three of the final four points. Wickens' 20th kill gave Pepperdine match point, and it ended two points later on a GCU attack error.
 
MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .402 overall (.356 set one, .364 set two, .591 set three, .357 set four)
• GCU hitting: .322 overall (.404 set one, .179 set two, .455 set three, .231 set four)
• Service Aces: PEPP 7, GCU 3
• Digs: PEPP 38, GCU 33
• Blocks: PEPP 13.0, GCU 8.0
• Grand Canyon got a match-high 23 kills from Christian Janke and 20 from Camden Gianni.

UP NEXT
 
The Waves and Lopes play again in Phoenix on Sunday (Feb. 20) at 2 p.m. MT / 1 p.m. PT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.