MALIBU, Calif. — The #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team swept past Harvard in Firestone Fieldhouse on Wednesday night, posting 25-16, 25-22, and 25-15 set scores.
 
Pepperdine (13-8, 4-2 MPSF) started set one with a .453 hitting %, and finished with a .371 clip overall.  The Waves kept the Harvard (6-10, 0-4 EIVA) attack to below .125 in the first and last sets, while allowing only 23 kills on a .118 throughout.
 
Graduate opposite, Jaylen Jasper led the squad with 19 kills, his 41^st match as a Wave hitting double-figure kills, and a staggering .577 hitting %. Senior middle blocker, Akin Akinwumi, held a .833 hitting % throughout the match while accumulating three blocks and redshirt sophomore Joe Deluzio led the squad in digs, with four in the match.
 
BIG WAVES
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 19 kills, .577 hitting %
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 7 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs, 1 ace
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 28 assists, 7 digs, three aces
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 5 kills, 3 blocks, .833 hitting %
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 4 kills, 2 blocks, .429 hitting %
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 4 kills, 4 digs, 2 blocks
 
WAVES VS. CRIMSON
Pepperdine led in all areas of the match, most notably on the attack front by hitting almost twice the amount of Harvard with a 40-23 kill differential.  The Waves also led with eight aces to the opposition's three to stay on track offensively.  On the defensive side, the home team also out-performed the Crimson 19 digs to 12 and 5.5 blocks to 3.0 to secure the non-conference win.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14         4            23         .435
2          12         7            23         .217
3          14         3            24         .458
TTL      40         14          70         .371
 
HARVARD ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          8           5            24      .125
2          9           4            19      .263
3          6           6            25      .000
TTL      23         15          68      .118
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Crimson started the first set with strong kills, testing the Waves defense, and leading 8-5. The first set became a point-for-point battle, but an overturned challenge would give Pepperdine a 9-8 lead. The challenge would allow the Waves to go on a 4-0 run, with kills from Jaylen Jasper and Jacob Steele. Harvard errors would add up as Pepperdine earned a 22-14 lead. Pepperdine brought unmatched energy in the second half of set one, with aces from Andersen Fuller and more Steele kills, the Waves took set one 25-16.
 
Harvard would attempt to set the tone for set two, taking an early lead with strong blocks stumping a big Pepperdine attack. Fuller broke the Crimson defense with a powerful kill to give the Waves momentum for set two, gaining a 16-15 advantage. Pepperdine errors would make this set tight, alternating leads with 15 tied scores and nine lead changes, but a crucial dig from Yadiel Diaz would give Joe Deluzio the opportunity to get a huge Waves kill and a lead at 22-21. Pepperdine would sustain this energy with immense efforts from Jasper, Fuller, and Steele and take set two 25-22.
 
Akin Akinwumi and Steele brought back-to-back kills, giving the Pepperdine a strong start to set three. The Crimson had some powerful kills, but had trouble keeping them in the lines, allowing the Waves to gain the upper-hand at 11-7. Even though an overturned call would favor Harvard, Pepperdine would continue on with Bryce Dvorak delivering a kill followed by an ace to bring the score to 18-11. Akinwumi sent the Waves into match point where a Harvard service error would hand over set three, 25-15.
 
UP NEXT
The Waves will take on Daemen at Firestone Fieldhouse this Friday, March 17^th at 6:00 p.m.
 
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.