FAIRFAX, Va. — The top attacking team in the country put on a showcase on Saturday, as the #5 Pepperdine men's volleyball team swept past George Mason 25-16, 25-19, 25-11 to close out the Uvaldo Acosta Memorial Tournament.
 
The Waves (7-1) currently rank first nationally in kills (14.30), hitting percentage (.398) and assists (13.65) at this point in the season.  It would be no exception against the Patriots (0-5) as Pepperdine put down 38 kills on a staggering .538 hitting percentage, making only three errors on 65 swings throughout the match.  The attack output is the squad's highest of the season. 
 
Graduate opposite Jaylen Jasper led the squad with 11 kills on a season-high .647 success rate.  It's the seventh time he has hit for double-figures this season and the 28^th time in his career.  It was not all offense for the Waves, however, as junior libero Trey Cole amassed 10 digs, marking double digit digs for the third time this season and the second time in as many matches.
 
BIG WAVES
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 11 kills, .647 hitting %, 2 aces, 2 block solos
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 7 kills, .700 hitting %, 3 digs, 5 blocks (1 solo)
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 7 kills, .636 hitting %, 2 ace, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS): 10 digs
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 30 assists, 4 digs, 3 blocks
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 5 kills, .714 hitting %, 1 ace, 3 blocks (1
solo)
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 6 kills, 2 aces, 1 block
 
WAVES VS. PATRIOTS
Offensively, the Waves were nearly unstoppable, allowing only 28 kills on a .113 to the opposition.  Pepperdine had 21 errorless swings in each the first and third set, marking 14 and 12 kills respectively.  The Waves also led at the service line, posting seven aces to the Patriots' three.  To pair with the strong offensive, the squad also outperformed George Mason defensively, accruing 10.0 blocks and 23 digs as opposed to 4.0 blocks and 19 digs.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        0          21        .667
2          12        3          23        .391
3          12        0          21        .571
TTL      38        3          65        .538
 
GEORGE MASON ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          10        7          25        .120
2          10        6          25        .160
3          8          6          30        .067
TTL      28        19        80        .113
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
After George Mason snagged the first point, a Jaylen Jasper solo block, followed by a Joe Deluzio, Akin Akinwumi rejection gave the Waves the first edge of the set.  It would be a lead Pepperdine would hold on to throughout, keeping a two-point margin to the 9-7 mark.  Kills from Andersen Fuller and Jasper then pushed the squad to a four-point lead to keep the momentum and a block from Fuller and Bryce Dvorak at 18-13 helped the team remain in the lead.  Jacob Steele continued Pepperdine's drive with an ace before Jasper laid down three more kills to close out the set 25-16.
 
The second set proved to be the tightest of the match as each team worked towards a 7-7 tied score to start.  After a 14-14 tied score, the Waves started to inch away with kills from Deluzio and another ace from Steele to make it 17-14.  Multiple Patriot service errors pushed the Waves to an even bigger lead and a second solo block from Jasper, followed by kills from Akinwumi and Fuller would end the set 25-19.
 
The eventual final set was all Pepperdine from start to finish, as kills from Akinwumi, Deluzio and Brendan Read set the tone early, 5-2.  A solo rejection from Fuller, with kills from the same and an ace from Jasper pushed the advantage to six, 10-4.  Inspired by the large margin and high energy, all the Waves on the court continued to show no let-up and a solo rejection from Akinwumi, followed by back-to-back Deluzio aces extended the squads lead to eight at the 16-8 mark.  After a 20-9 lead late in the set, the Waves were ready to close and a kill from Deluzio and block from Dvorak and Fuller, followed by three-consecutive errors from George Mason would do just the trick for a 25-11 set end.
 
UP NEXT
Next week, the Waves return to California, hosting UC Santa Barbara on February 1 in Firestone before making the short trip up north to play the Gauchos on February 3.
 
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.