MALIBU, Calif. — The #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team returns to the road this week, set to take on #8 BYU in Provo on Friday and Saturday.
 
MATCH #23 — Friday (March 24) at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah: #7 Pepperdine (14-8, 4-2 MPSF) at #8 BYU (12-6, 2-4 MPSF) at 6 p.m. PT
 
MATCH #24 — Saturday (March 25) at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah: #7 Pepperdine (14-8, 4-2 MPSF) at #8 BYU (12-6, 2-4 MPSF) at 6 p.m. PT
 
COVERAGE — The matches will have live stats and live stream available with the matches streaming live on BYUtv and the BYUtv app respectively.  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 — Next week, the Waves will host Cal Lutheran on April 1 for a light week.  The following week, Pepperdine will split home and away with Concordia on April 6 and 8.  The match on Saturday will be Senior Day, while the Waves will also welcome the local community for Neighborhood Night.  In the final regular season week, Pepperdine and UCLA will go head-to-head at home on April 13 and on the road on April 15.  The match at home against the Bruins will also be ASICS Night, with special promotions and events brought to you by ASICS.
 
LAST WEEK — The Waves swept past both the opponents last week, routing Harvard before dominating against Daemen.  In the opener, the squad collected 25-16, 25-22 and 25-15 final set scores, posting 40 kills on a .371 clip to the opposition's 23 kills on a .118 output.  Pepperdine also marked eight aces and 5.5 blocks to the Crimson's three aces and 3.0 blocks.  Jaylen Jasper was good for a team-high 19 kills on a .577 success rate, while Bryce Dvorak tabbed 28 assists, three aces and seven digs.  Andersen Fuller also marked three aces, while Akin Akinwumi led the squad with three blocks.
 
In the match that followed, the Waves rolled through the Wildcats 25-13, 25-18 and 25-17.  The squad put in 39 kills on a .391 output, with eight aces, 6.0 blocks and 20 digs, while Daemen was good for 26 kills on a .162 clip as well as two aces, 6.5 blocks and 15 digs.  Jasper had a team-best 11 kills, while tying the team-high block effort with three alongside Andersen Fuller.  Trey Cole led the squad with nine digs, while Akinwumi impressed with a career-high five aces.  He and Fuller also produced seven kills apiece, Fuller with a .700 hitting percentage.
 
WAVES IMPRESS IN THE STAT RANKINGS — After nine weeks of action, the Waves are second the nation with 13.35 kills/set and 12.20 assists/set and fifth with a .355 hitting percentage, while ranking 11th in service aces (1.67). 
 
Bryce Dvorak also ranks atop the nation in assists/set (10.77).  Jaylen Jasper is second in kills/set (5.01) and points/set (5.50), 9th in hitting percentage (.400), 11th in attacks/set (8.77) among others.  Trey Cole ranks 18th in digs/set (2.04) and Akin Akinwumi ranks 3rd in hitting percentage (.476) and 22nd in aces/set (0.42). 
 
OPPONENTS — BYU has gone 12-6 overall and 2-4 in the MPSF so far this week.  The Cougars remain undefeated at 8-0 at home.  All of their losses have come from teams in the top-eight.  Most recently, the Cougars lost twice to #5 Grand Canyon in Phoenix, getting swept in the first bout and going to five in the next.  BYU then faced #15 Ohio State in a pair of matches in Provo, winning both with one four-setter and one five-setter. 
 
All-time, the Waves have gone 38-39 against the Cougars, dating back to 1977 when Pepperdine swept for the win in Provo.  The longest winning streak came after that with eight-straight victories for the squad through 1992.  Since that year, neither team has had a large edge, though from 2020-22, BYU came close with seven-consecutive wins.  Last season, the Waves lost the first matchup in five at home, before sweeping the Cougars the following night at home and downing them in five-sets in the postseason.