MALIBU, California – The #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team hit 52% or better in every set as the Waves posted their second consecutive sweep of Concordia, 25-17, 25-17, 25-22, on Saturday night in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
 
After splitting the first three MPSF weekend series, the Waves (14-7, 5-3) beat the Eagles both on Thursday and Saturday and got their first sweep of the conference season while improving to 10-0 all-time against Concordia (10-12, 3-7).
 
BIG WAVES

• Graduate opposite Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Stanford) had a match-high 14 kills on .550 hitting (14-3-20) along with four digs.
• Sophomore opposite Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS) posted 11 kills on .562 hitting (11-2-16) plus five digs and four block assists.
• Graduate outside hitter Alex Gettinger (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette HS) recorded 10 kills on .400 hitting (10-4-15).
• Graduate middle blocker Austin Wilmot (Valley Village, Calif./Crespi Carmelite HS/UC Irvine) knocked down seven kills on .538 hitting (7-0-13) and had a match-high five blocks.
• Sophomore setter Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) led the Waves to a .528 team hitting percentage with 38 assists. He also had a match-high six digs.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The teams were tied at eight in the first set when Pepperdine went on a 4-0 run to take the lead for good. Wilmot had a kill and CUI had three hitting errors, one on a Pepperdine block. The lead increased to five at 14-9 and six at 16-10, both on hitting errors, and went to seven at 19-12 on a block by Jasper and Wilmot. The first set ended after a kill by Dvorak and Concordia's eighth hitting error of the set.
 
The Waves scored the first two points of set number two and led the entire way. A kill by Wilmot and an ace by Jasper helped Pepperdine to an early 8-4 lead. At 12-10, the Waves scored three straight on two kills by Gettinger and one by Wilmot. At 20-16, the Waves ran off four consecutive points with a Fuller kill and service ace. Wilmot made it 2-0 for the Waves with a set-ending kill.
 
Trailing 7-6 in the third set, the Waves reeled off three straight points to take the lead for good. At 12-10, sophomore middle blocker Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS) had a kill and an ace to start a 4-0 run. That put Pepperdine up by six, and Concordia wouldn't get any closer than three the rest of the way. Steele ended the match with a kill.
 
MATCH STATS

• PEPP hitting: .528 overall (.520 set one, .524 set two, .538 set three)
• CUI hitting: .264 overall (.156 set one, .231 set two, .414 set three)
• Service Aces: PEPP 4, CUI 1
• Digs: PEPP 20, CUI 13
• Blocks: PEPP 8.0, CUI 3.5
• Concordia was led by Jonathan Carlson's 10 kills.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine meets top-ranked UCLA twice next weekend, first facing the Bruins in Malibu on Thursday (April 7) at 7 p.m., followed by a rematch at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on Saturday (April 9) at 6 p.m. Ticket information and COVID-19 entry policies for Firestone Fieldhouse can be found here.