Wednesday, March 1
Honolulu, Hawai'i
9:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
at
Hawai'i
Photo by: Kennedy Duke
Men's Volleyball Set to Challenge Top-Ranked Hawai'i this Week
2/27/2023 7:26:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. — The #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team will make the trip to Honolulu this week, set to challenge top-ranked Hawai'i in a pair of matches on Wednesday and Friday.
MATCH #17 — Wednesday (March 1) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i: #7 Pepperdine (10-6) vs. #1 Hawai'i (13-0) at 9 p.m. PT
MATCH #18 — Friday (March 3) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i: #7 Pepperdine (10-6) vs. #1 Hawai'i (13-0) at 9 p.m. PT
COVERAGE — The matches will have air live on Spectrum Sports and have radio available on ESPN Honolulu. Live stats will also be available and all links can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
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.
UP NEXT — After the trip to Hawai'i, the Waves will return to California for a split home and away series with USC. Pepperdine will host the Trojans on March 9, while the match will also serve as Alumni Night for the Waves. On March 11, Pepperdine will make the short crosstown trip to take on USC once again.
LAST WEEK — The Waves split with #5 Grand Canyon at home last week, falling in five in the opener, but taking a five-set win as revenge in the finale. It was the Antelopes first loss of the season. In the first one, the Waves came back from 25-18, 25-21 set losses with 25-23, 25-20 wins to force a fifth, though the opposition collected a 16-14 set win to take the match. Jaylen Jasper impressed with a season-high 30 kills, the second time in his career he has cracked the 30-kill mark since at Pepperdine, and he did so on a .578 clip. Akin Akinwumi and Joe Deluzio also hit for double-figures, while Bryce Dvorak had a team-high 55 assists and two aces and Trey Cole led with 12 digs. Akinwumi also had four blocks.
In the second match, the Waves once again rallied from 25-20, 25-23 set losses to win 25-16, 27-25 and force another fifth set. From there it was different that the previous night, as Pepperdine dominated the final set 15-9 to take the win. Jasper led the Waves with 23 kills on a .487 hitting percentage, while Akinwumi posted a career-high 17 kills on a .393 clip and added five blocks and four aces. Dvorak posted 45 assists and eight digs.
MPSF WEEKLY ACCLAIM — Pepperdine has amassed six weekly MPSF honors so far this season, with five offensive nods and one defensive recognition. Jaylen Jasper garnered his fourth offensive award of the season this week, while Trey Cole picked up his first career defensive honor.
This past week, Jasper and Cole led the Waves through a pair of five-setters against #5 Grand Canyon, helping the squad to a win and the Antelopes first loss of the season in the series finale at home.
Jasper averaged 5.30 kills and 5.45 points per set, marking 54.5 total points, fueled by a 53 kills effort and a .536 hitting percentage in 10 sets. In the opener, he posted his second career 30-kill effort and did so on a .578 success rate with only four errors on 45 swings. Then in the second matchup against the Lopes, he posted another 20+ kill mark with 23 kills on a .487 clip, adding three digs and two blocks as well.
Cole was solid in the back row for the Waves, amassing 2.00 digs and 0.50 assists per set. His passing led the Waves to a .359 hitting percentage throughout 10 sets of action and he posted on two reception errors in 64 total attempts for a .969 success rate. In the opener, he marked his sixth double-figure dig match with 12 digs, adding 34 errorless reception attempts and helping Pepperdine to a .398 collective hitting percentage. He then marked eight digs in the finale, helping the Waves secure the victory with a .319 clip.
Pepperdine collected MPSF offensive weekly honors for three straight weeks during weeks two through four earlier in the season. Bryce Dvorak (1/16) and Jaylen Jasper (1/23, 1/30, 2/20, 2/27) have tabbed offensive weekly nods and Trey Cole (2/27) has earned a defensive nod this season.
WAVES IMPRESS IN THE STAT RANKINGS — After six weeks of action, the Waves are second the nation with 13.2 kills/set and 12.52 assists/set and fifth with a .363 hitting percentage, while ranking 10th in service aces (1.76).
Bryce Dvorak also ranks atop the nation in assists/set (10.97). Jaylen Jasper is second in kills/set (5.00), third in points/set (5.45), 10th in attacks/set (8.64) and 10th in hitting percentage (.408) among others. Trey Cole ranks 15th in digs/set (2.08) and Akin Akinwumi ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.481) and 16th in aces/set (0.48).
OPPONENTS — This week, Pepperdine will face another undefeated opponent, challenging top-ranked Hawai'i, a team that has gone 13-0 this season thus far. The Rainbow Warriors have gone 8-0 at home with wins against Stanford, Concordia and Ball State so far this season. All-time, the Waves hold a 44-35 record against Hawai'i, dating back to 1981 when the Waves wept the Warriors at home. Each team has had a few winning streaks since that time, though have split the last two meetings, with Pepperdine winning in four at home in 2018 and Hawai'i winning in three at home in 2019.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine remained in the #7 spot this week in the AVCA national rankings. The Waves opened the 2023 season on January 3 at #5 in the AVCA national rankings as well.
Pepperdine, along with Long Beach State and UCLA, are the only three schools to have been ranked in the top-15 of every single national poll since the polls began in 1986. Hawai'i is the next closest, having been ranked 554 total times. Pepperdine is second on the list for school ranked most in the top-five with 358 top-five rankings, while UCLA tops the list with 394 top-five rankings.
MATCH #17 — Wednesday (March 1) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i: #7 Pepperdine (10-6) vs. #1 Hawai'i (13-0) at 9 p.m. PT
MATCH #18 — Friday (March 3) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i: #7 Pepperdine (10-6) vs. #1 Hawai'i (13-0) at 9 p.m. PT
COVERAGE — The matches will have air live on Spectrum Sports and have radio available on ESPN Honolulu. Live stats will also be available and all links can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
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.
UP NEXT — After the trip to Hawai'i, the Waves will return to California for a split home and away series with USC. Pepperdine will host the Trojans on March 9, while the match will also serve as Alumni Night for the Waves. On March 11, Pepperdine will make the short crosstown trip to take on USC once again.
LAST WEEK — The Waves split with #5 Grand Canyon at home last week, falling in five in the opener, but taking a five-set win as revenge in the finale. It was the Antelopes first loss of the season. In the first one, the Waves came back from 25-18, 25-21 set losses with 25-23, 25-20 wins to force a fifth, though the opposition collected a 16-14 set win to take the match. Jaylen Jasper impressed with a season-high 30 kills, the second time in his career he has cracked the 30-kill mark since at Pepperdine, and he did so on a .578 clip. Akin Akinwumi and Joe Deluzio also hit for double-figures, while Bryce Dvorak had a team-high 55 assists and two aces and Trey Cole led with 12 digs. Akinwumi also had four blocks.
In the second match, the Waves once again rallied from 25-20, 25-23 set losses to win 25-16, 27-25 and force another fifth set. From there it was different that the previous night, as Pepperdine dominated the final set 15-9 to take the win. Jasper led the Waves with 23 kills on a .487 hitting percentage, while Akinwumi posted a career-high 17 kills on a .393 clip and added five blocks and four aces. Dvorak posted 45 assists and eight digs.
MPSF WEEKLY ACCLAIM — Pepperdine has amassed six weekly MPSF honors so far this season, with five offensive nods and one defensive recognition. Jaylen Jasper garnered his fourth offensive award of the season this week, while Trey Cole picked up his first career defensive honor.
This past week, Jasper and Cole led the Waves through a pair of five-setters against #5 Grand Canyon, helping the squad to a win and the Antelopes first loss of the season in the series finale at home.
Jasper averaged 5.30 kills and 5.45 points per set, marking 54.5 total points, fueled by a 53 kills effort and a .536 hitting percentage in 10 sets. In the opener, he posted his second career 30-kill effort and did so on a .578 success rate with only four errors on 45 swings. Then in the second matchup against the Lopes, he posted another 20+ kill mark with 23 kills on a .487 clip, adding three digs and two blocks as well.
Cole was solid in the back row for the Waves, amassing 2.00 digs and 0.50 assists per set. His passing led the Waves to a .359 hitting percentage throughout 10 sets of action and he posted on two reception errors in 64 total attempts for a .969 success rate. In the opener, he marked his sixth double-figure dig match with 12 digs, adding 34 errorless reception attempts and helping Pepperdine to a .398 collective hitting percentage. He then marked eight digs in the finale, helping the Waves secure the victory with a .319 clip.
Pepperdine collected MPSF offensive weekly honors for three straight weeks during weeks two through four earlier in the season. Bryce Dvorak (1/16) and Jaylen Jasper (1/23, 1/30, 2/20, 2/27) have tabbed offensive weekly nods and Trey Cole (2/27) has earned a defensive nod this season.
WAVES IMPRESS IN THE STAT RANKINGS — After six weeks of action, the Waves are second the nation with 13.2 kills/set and 12.52 assists/set and fifth with a .363 hitting percentage, while ranking 10th in service aces (1.76).
Bryce Dvorak also ranks atop the nation in assists/set (10.97). Jaylen Jasper is second in kills/set (5.00), third in points/set (5.45), 10th in attacks/set (8.64) and 10th in hitting percentage (.408) among others. Trey Cole ranks 15th in digs/set (2.08) and Akin Akinwumi ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.481) and 16th in aces/set (0.48).
OPPONENTS — This week, Pepperdine will face another undefeated opponent, challenging top-ranked Hawai'i, a team that has gone 13-0 this season thus far. The Rainbow Warriors have gone 8-0 at home with wins against Stanford, Concordia and Ball State so far this season. All-time, the Waves hold a 44-35 record against Hawai'i, dating back to 1981 when the Waves wept the Warriors at home. Each team has had a few winning streaks since that time, though have split the last two meetings, with Pepperdine winning in four at home in 2018 and Hawai'i winning in three at home in 2019.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine remained in the #7 spot this week in the AVCA national rankings. The Waves opened the 2023 season on January 3 at #5 in the AVCA national rankings as well.
Pepperdine, along with Long Beach State and UCLA, are the only three schools to have been ranked in the top-15 of every single national poll since the polls began in 1986. Hawai'i is the next closest, having been ranked 554 total times. Pepperdine is second on the list for school ranked most in the top-five with 358 top-five rankings, while UCLA tops the list with 394 top-five rankings.
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