AUSTIN, Texas — After a 4-0 start to the season, the #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team dropped the first match of 2023 on Friday afternoon, opening the First Point Collegiate Challenge with a four-set loss to #4 Penn State. 
 
After falling behind with 26-24 and 25-18 set losses, the Waves (4-1) battled back against the Nittany Lions (5-0), collecting a 25-19 set win to force a fourth.  Penn State would have the edge in the final set, however, taking a 25-14 victory to end the match.
 
Graduate opposite Jaylen Jasper highlighted the day for the Waves with his second 20+ kill match of the season, having tabbed 21 kills on a .368 clip.  It's the sixth time in his career that he has achieved the feat, and the 25^th time in his career he has hit for double-figures.  Jacob Steele also amassed double-figure kills with 10 smashes, marking his 36^th all-time match in double-digits offensively.
 
BIG WAVES
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 21 kills, .368 hitting %, 6 digs, 1 ace
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 10 kills, 6 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 40 assists, 3 kills, 1 ace, 1 block
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 5 kills, .556 hitting %, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS): 8 digs
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 7 kills
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 2 aces, 3 digs, 2 kills
 
WAVES VS. NITTANY LIONS
Though each side of the net collected 28 digs during the match, Penn State would have the edge in the other statistical categories, leading most notably with 55 kills on a .400 clip compared to the Waves' 48 kills on a .279 output.  The Nittany Lions also led 6.5 to 2.0 in blocks and narrowly with an 8-6 differential in service aces.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        5          25        .360
2          12        4          21        .381
3          16        4          32        .375
4          6          6          26        .000
TTL      48        19        104      .279
 
PENN STATE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        2          28        .500
2          14        2          26        .462
3          10        4          26        .231
4          15        3          30        .400
TTL      55        11        110      .400
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The first set was a see-saw battle from start to finish as kills from Jacob Steele, Jaylen Jasper and Joe Deluzio kept the Waves close to the Nittany Lions en route to a 9-9 tied score.  The opposition then gained a two-point lead, but kills from Jasper and an ace from Deluzio answered to put the Waves right back in it at 12's.  After a 22-22 tied score, a pair of kills from Steele and Jasper put Pepperdine in a position to win the set, but a costly attack error from the Waves, followed by a Penn State kill tied things up.  An ace from the opposition would flip the script and another costly attack error from the Waves would end the set 26-24, handing the squad the first set loss of the season.
 
The second set began the same as the first, however the Nittany Lions would collect a string of kills and aces to pull ahead 16-9.  The Waves battled throughout, but PSU gained a 21-12 advantage late in the action.  Though Pepperdine had a late comeback attempt with blocks from Bryce Dvorak and Akin Akinwumi, as well as some kills from the same pair of Waves, Penn State was able to secure the 25-18 set win to head into the third set with a big advantage.
 
The beginning of the third set started to look familiar, as each team battled through 5-5, 10-10 and 15-15 tied scores.  The Waves and Nittany Lions exchanged points once again until the set reached 18's and Pepperdine started to break away.  Back-to-back kills from Jasper and Andersen Fuller put Penn State back on their heels, but the Waves showed no let-up with an ace from Dvorak to help the cause and earn a three-point lead, 21-18.  The opposition then collected a block, but Fuller quickly took back control with a smash from the middle.  At that point, Jasper had had enough, crushing three-consecutive kills down to end the set 25-19 and force a fourth.
 
Despite a strong finish in the previous set, the Waves came out trailing to open as the opposition collected a 7-2 lead early.  Costly errors from Pepperdine, both at the service line and on the attack front, did not help and Penn State was able to work towards a 10-point lead at the 21-11 mark.  The Waves gathered a few offensive opportunities, but the damage was done, and the Nittany Lions finished the day with a 25-14 set win to take the four-set victory and hand Pepperdine the team's first loss of the season.
 
UP NEXT
Tomorrow, the Waves will continue on with the First Point Collegiate Challenge, going head-to-head with another ranked opponent - #15 Lewis.  First serve is slated for 2 p.m. PT.  Live stream and live stats will continue to be available with links found on www.PepperdineWaves.com.  Use the code FPCC1 for a free month subscription to VolleyballWorld.
 
FOLLOW
Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @WavesVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @peppvolley.  Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.