MALIBU, Calif. — It's another home-and-away series for the #6 Pepperdine men's volleyball team as the Waves host #7 UC Irvine on Wednesday before making the short trip to Irvine on Friday.
 
MATCH #11 — Wednesday (February 8) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: #6 Pepperdine (8-2) vs. #7 UC Irvine (7-3) at 7 p.m.
 
MATCH #12 — Friday (February 10) at Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif.: #6 Pepperdine (8-2) vs. #7 UC Irvine (7-3) at 7 p.m.
 
COVERAGE — The match at Pepperdine will have live stream available on the WCC Network and live stats available.  The match at UC Irvine will stream live on ESPN+ with live stats also available.  Links to broadcasts and live stats 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 — Next week, Pepperdine will travel to Palo Alto to open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action against #8 Stanford on February 17 and 18.
 
PROMOTIONS — Fanny packs will be given away to the first few students with a valid Pepperdine ID.
 
TICKETS & SPECTATOR GUIDELINES — Tickets to all Pepperdine home men's volleyball matches in 2023 will be available via e-ticket ONLY and all fans are encouraged to purchase those e-tickets prior to arriving on campus for the match.  Pepperdine faculty, staff and students must show Pepperdine ID card for entry — no ticket purchase is required.
 
To purchase e-tickets and read the spectator guidelines, visit: www.PepperdineWaves.com/Tickets. Due to campus construction, nearby parking is limited and guests are advised to arrive early.  Each match costs $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (65+) and $5 for children and non-Pepperdine students. 
 
LAST WEEK — The Waves battled against UC Santa Barbara last week, sweeping past the Gauchos at home before falling in a five-set battle on the road.  In the match at home, Pepperdine led the floor offensively and defensively, taking 25-23, 25-21 and 25-21 set scores.  Jaylen Jasper led the Waves with 17 kills on a .306 clip, also tying for a team-high four blocks alongside Akin Akinwumi.  Akinwumi amassed nine kills on a .438 success rate to help the cause as well.  Bryce Dvorak led in playmaking duties with 35 assists and seven digs.
 
In the following five-setter at UCSB, the Waves still had a solid presence, taking the lead after splitting the first two sets 25-21, 21-25 and winning the third 25-16.  The Gauchos then rallied to win the fourth 25-11 before going on to complete the win with a 15-12 fifth-set score.  Jasper had a season-high 26 kills after tabbing his third-career double-double by adding 10 digs.  Jacob Steele and Joe Deluzio hit for double-figures as well with 11 and 10 respectively, while Trey Cole had a season-best 14 digs.  Dvorak also picked up a season-high 54 assists, while Akinwumi led the squad with three aces.
 
MPSF WEEKLY ACCLAIM — Pepperdine collected MPSF offensive weekly honors for three straight weeks (weeks two-four).  This season, Bryce Dvorak (1/16) and Jaylen Jasper (1/23, 1/30) have tabbed offensive weekly nods.
 
WAVES IMPRESS IN THE STAT RANKINGS — After five weeks of action, the Waves are second the nation with 13.60 kills/set and third with 12.80 assists/set and a .374 hitting percentage, while ranking sixth in service aces (2.09).  Bryce Dvorak also ranks first in assists/set (11.26).  Jaylen Jasper is second in kills/set (5.09), third in points/set (5.68), 7th in attacks/set (8.85) ad 11th in hitting percentage (.419) among others.  Trey Cole ranks 10th in digs/set (2.44). 
 
OPPONENTS — UC Irvine has gone 7-3 overall this season, going on an eight-match winning streak to start the season, including wins over USC, Lewis, BYU and Concordia.  Recently, however, the Anteaters have dropped three in a row - a five-set loss to BYU and a pair of four-set losses to Grand Canyon.  All-time, the Waves have gone 56-27 against UCI, dating back to 1971 when the teams first met and the opposition won in four.  Pepperdine went on a 24-match winning streak from 1971-94.  The Waves collected on a few more streaks throughout the years, but most recently, the two teams have gone 5-5 in the last five years.
 
RANKINGS — After splitting the week last week, Pepperdine dropped one spot in the AVCA national rankings, now coming in at the #6 spot.  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.