Box Score AUSTIN, Texas — After another solid offensive showing, the #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team defeated #15 Lewis in four sets to close out the First Point Collegiate Challenge on Saturday afternoon. 
 
After splitting the first two sets 25-21, 29-31, the Waves (5-1) found rhythm, taking 25-18 and 25-20 third and fourth set wins to secure the overall victory against the Flyers (3-3).  As a team, the Waves hit above .440 collectively for a fourth time this season, posting a season-high 64 kills in the match as well.
 
Three on Pepperdine's side of the net hit for double-figures, led by a season-high 23 kills on a .425 success rate from graduate student Jaylen Jasper.  Redshirt-sophomore Joe Deluzio earned a new career-high in kills with 15, and did so on a .522 success rate.  Redshirt-junior Jacob Steele finished with 10 kills, while adding a season-high four aces, and senior Akin Akinwumi marked a career-best .692 hitting percentage with nine kills on 13 errorless swings.
 
BIG WAVES
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 23 kills, .425 hitting %, 7 digs, 2 blocks, 3 assists
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 15 kills, .522 hitting #, 3 digs, 1 ace
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 10 kills, 4 aces, 4 blocks, 3 digs
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 52 assists, 6 digs, 3 aces, 2 kills
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 9 kills, .692 hitting %, 4 blocks, 1 ace
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 5 kills, .714 hitting %, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS): 6 digs
 
WAVES VS. FLYERS
Pepperdine dominated the match offensively, leading with 64 kills on a .446 success rate compared to 47 kills on a .303 from Lewis.  The Waves also led 11 to six with aces at the service line.  Though the opposition had a slight seven to six block advantage, Pepperdine led 29 to 26 in digs to counter. 
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        4          24        .458
2          18        5          34        .382
3          14        4          25        .400
4          17        1          29        .552
TTL      64        14        112      .446
 
LEWIS ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          10        8          25        .080
2          16        4          32        .375
3          8          4          19        .211
4          13        1          23        .522
TTL      47        17        99        .303
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
After Lewis took the first two points of the match, a kill and ace one-two combo from Bryce Dvorak tied things up and got the Waves heading in the right direction.  Near back-to-back blocks from Akin Akinwumi with either Jacob Steele or Jaylen Jasper, followed by smashes from Joe Deluzio and Steele gave the squad a three-point lead, 10-7.  Each side exchanged points throughout the rest of the set, however the Waves kept slowly inching away courtesy of multiple kills from Jasper, another block from Akinwumi and an ace from Steele to make it 19-15 late in the action.  The Flyers brought the differential to one with a three-point run, but more Jasper smashes kept the Waves in the lead, 23-21.  A kill from Akinwumi and a Malibu Roofing Company rejection from Andersen Fuller and Jasper closed the set.
 
The opposition came out firing in the next set, building a 6-2 lead early.  The Waves were able to stay in it and close the gap at 15's with kills from Steele and Deluzio to help the cause.  After exchanging kills, an attack error from across the net and an ace from the Waves' Brendan Read put the squad ahead 20-18.  The Flyers countered with a quick two points before building the lead to 24-22 and putting Pepperdine on edge.  A kill, followed by an ace – both from Steele – tied things once again at 24-apiece.  Though the Waves battled off the first set-point opportunity to gain the lead, Lewis also was able to fight through four set-point options to tie the score at 29-29.  The opposition eventually posted a block and a kill to take the 31-29 win and tie the overall.
 
Pepperdine would not take chances in the following two sets, dominating quickly in the third after seeing kills from Fuller, Deluzio and Jasper and another ace from Steele to pull away 12-8 early.  An ace from Akinwumi, followed by a Steele, Fuller block collaboration continued the Waves to a 19-12 lead and more smashes from Deluzio made it 21-14.  Though Lewis started to close the gap marginally, kills from Jasper and errors from across the net closed the set 25-18 and put Pepperdine back in the lead. 
 
In the fourth set, Jasper, Steele, Fuller and Deluzio all collected kills, courtesy os a well-dished offensive from the setter Dvorak towards a quick 9-5 advantage.  After trading errors on both sides, the Waves had worked to a 14-10 lead at the mid-way point.  Smashes from Jasper and Fuller, as well as an ace from Steele pushed the squad to a six-point lead, 18-12.  Though the Flyers stayed in the game at that point, the damage was done and ace from Deluzio along with kills from Fuller helped the Waves continue on to a sound 25-20 set win for the four-set overall victory.
 
UP NEXT
On January 27 and 28, the Waves will head to Fairfax, Va. To compete at the NCAA Preview, hosted by George Mason.  Pepperdine will face NJIT on Friday and the tournament-host on Saturday. 
 
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.