MALIBU, Calif. — An impressive showing at the service line propelled the #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team to a 25-22, 25-19, 25-23 sweep over The Master's in Firestone on Friday night. 
 
Three separate players charted three or more aces throughout the match for a collective 11-ace team effort, led by senior Akin Akinwumi who stunned the Mustangs with a career-high four aces.  It would be career night for redshirt-sophomore Joe Deluzio as well, as he produced a career-best nine kills on a .667 success rate, along with three aces.  Junior Bryce Dvorak also marked three gems from the service line to add to the effort.
 
Redshirt-junior Jacob Steele hit for double-figures for the 35^th time in his career to lead the Waves, marking 14 kills on a solid .565 clip.  Graduate student Jaylen Jasper also posted double-figure kills for the second time this season in as many matches, and the 22^nd time overall with 11 smashes. 
 
The Waves advanced to 2-0 on the season and will return to Firestone tomorrow, January 14 at 6 p.m. to host Emmanuel (Ga.).
 
BIG WAVES
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 14 kills, .565 hitting %
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 11 kills, 2 blocks
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 9 kills, .667 hitting #, 3 aces, 3 digs
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 34 assists, 3 aces
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 4 aces
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 7 kills, 2 blocks
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS): 6 digs, 3 assists
 

WAVES VS. MUSTANGS
Pepperdine out-served The Master's from start to finish, posting 11 aces to the opposition five throughout the match.  Though the Waves led in kills, 43 to 31, the Mustangs had a slight edge with a .453 hitting percentage, compared to the home team's .443.  Each side produced 11 digs in the match, while the opposition led 7.0 to 3.0 in blocks.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        5          29        .310
2          13        2          20        .550
3          16        5          21        .524
TTL      43        12        70        .443
 
THE MASTER'S ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          6          2          14        .286
2          11        3          21        .381
3          14        2          18        .667
TTL      31        7          53        .453
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
It was a hitter's battle from start to finish, beginning in the first set as the Waves marked 14 kills on a .310 clip, compared to the opposition's low six-kill effort on a .286 output.  Pepperdine opened the match with a 5-0 run courtesy of a strong serving presence from Bryce Dvorak, including an ace to begin.  Jaylen Jasper, Joe Deluzio and Andersen Fuller all recorded kills in the opening sequence as well to put the home team on top.  The opposition countered with some big plays, though, answering to close the gap and tie the score at 6's.  After giving up a brief one-point lead at the 10-9 mark, the Waves buckled down with an ace from Akin Akinwumi and back-to-back block collaborations from Fuller and Jasper to push ahead 15-11.  The set would prove to be a see-saw battle, though, as the Mustangs tied it up at 19-19, but another ace from Akinwumi and kills from Fuller, Jasper and eventually Steele would close the set 25-22.
 
The second set told a different story in the beginning after The Master's collected on some costly Waves' errors to gain a 10-8 advantage early.  The Waves refused to roll over, however, tying the score at 11's with a smash from Steele and overtaking the lead with more Steele and Akinwumi kills for a 15-13 lead.  Akinwumi then found another chink in TMU's armor, posting his third ace of the match to propel Pepperdine to an 18-15 advantage.  The Waves started to roll after that and kills from Steele, Jasper and Fuller along with an ace from both Deluzio and Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif./Servite HS) to make it 25-19 in the set and send the home team into the third with a two-set advantage.  Throughout the set, the Waves posted a .550 success rate on the attack, compared to the Mustangs' .381.
 
TMU once again came out strong, collecting on a strong attack to take a four-point lead, 10-6.  A kill and pair of aces from Deluzio would tie the score and put the Waves ahead 13-11, forcing the opposition back and setting the momentum for Firestone.  The two teams went point-for-point, gaining advantages here and there for an eventual 21-21 tied score late in the action.  The attack lines were impressive during the final set, as The Master's produced 14 kills on a .667 clip, compared to the Waves' 16 smashes on a .524 output.  A kill from Steele and Akinwumi's career-high fourth ace of the night gave the squad a two-point lead, though The Master's was able to counter with a kill and a block to tie things up at 23's.  Pepperdine was ready to head home for the night though, and a statement kill from Jasper put the opposition on their heels, forcing an attack error from the Mustangs to end the night 25-23 for the Waves.
 
NEXT UP
After the match against Emmanuel, Pepperdine will remain home on Monday night at 7 p.m., hosting Princeton, a team receiving votes in the AVCA coaches poll.
 
FOLLOW
Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @peppmvb.  Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.