IRVINE, California – Behind 18 kills from Jaylen Jasper and 15 from Jacob Steele, the #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team went on the road to sweep Concordia, 25-21, 27-25, 25-23, on Thursday night in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
 
The Waves (13-7, 4-3) improved to 11-0 in three-set matches this season and outhit the Eagles (10-11, 3-6) .330 to .281.
 
BIG WAVES

• Graduate opposite Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Stanford) had a match-high 18 kills along with six digs.
• Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) hit .360 on his 15 kills.
• Graduate outside hitter Alex Gettinger (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS) posted six kills and a career-high 10 digs.
• Sophomore setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) handed out 41 assists and had six digs.
• Graduate libero Spencer Wickens (Irondequoit, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) contributed eight digs.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves built an early four-point lead at 9-5 in the first set after a block by graduate middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine), but the Eagles would later come back to tie it up at 16. But, Pepperdine would immediately regain the lead after a kill by Gettinger and a CUI attack error. A Steele kill put Pepperdine up four at 21-17, and the Waves ended up winning the first set by four after another Steele kill.
 
It took a sizable comeback for the Waves to claim set two, as Concordia led by six at 19-13. A 4-0 run that included two kills by Jasper cut the deficit to 19-17. It was still a two-point Eagle lead at 22-20, and the Waves tied it on kills by Jasper and Steele. Pepperdine took its first lead of the set at 24-23, although Concordia fought off a couple of set points. But tied at 25, the Waves ended it on kills by Steele and Jasper.
 
Set three was also tight and featured 10 ties and six lead changes, though Concordia never led by more than one point. The final Eagle lead was at 13-12. Pepperdine went up three at 19-16 on a Jasper kill, but Concordia came back with three straight points to tie it. The Waves regained the lead with a 3-0 run of their own thanks to a Jasper kill and two Eagle miscues. Concordia closed to within one at 22-21, but the teams traded sideouts the rest of the way and the match ended on a Steele kill.
 
MATCH STATS 

• PEPP hitting: .330 overall (.457 set one, .417 set two, .069 set three)
• CUI hitting: .281 overall (.294 set one, .469 set two, .000 set three)
• Service Aces: PEPP 2, CUI 1
• Digs: PEPP 31, CUI 31
• Blocks: PEPP 4.0, CUI 8.5
• Concordia got 17 kills from Owen Chun.

UP NEXT
 
The Waves and Eagles play again on Saturday (April 2) at 6 p.m., this time in Malibu. Ticket information and COVID-19 entry policies for Firestone Fieldhouse can be found here.