Box Score PROVO, Utah — Jaylen Jasper was a force to be reckoned with as the #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team duked it out with #8 BYU at Smith Fieldhouse on Friday night.  The graduate opposite impressed with a career-high 37 kills, tying the Pepperdine program record for most kills in a single-match during the rally scoring era, though the Cougars were able to come away with the five-set victory. 
 
It was a see-saw battle throughout, as the Cougars (13-6, 3-4 MPSF) took 21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 15-11 set scores for the victory over the Waves (14-9, 4-3 MPSF).
 
Jasper posted his 37 career-high kills on a solid .443 hitting percentage, adding seven digs and a season-high six blocks in an all-around effort.  The last Wave to have accomplished the attacking feat during the rally scoring era was Paul Carroll on three occasions – at UCLA (5 sets, 2007), vs. UCI (4 sets, 2009) and vs. USC (5 sets, 2009).  The all-time program record including the sideout era is 53 by Tom Sorensen vs. UCLA in 1993.
 
Trey Cole also amassed a season-high 16 digs, while Andersen Fuller was good for a season-best six blocks.
 
BIG WAVES
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 37 kills, .443 hitting %, 7 digs, 6 blocks
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 49 assists, 7 digs
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 8 kills, 6 digs, 1 block, 4 assists
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 8 kills, 3 digs
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS): 16 digs, 3 assists
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 6 blocks, 3 digs
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 5 kills, 4 blocks, 3 digs
 
WAVES VS. COUGARS
Though the Waves led with 60 kills to the 58 from across the net, the Cougars had the edge with a .283 to .254 success rate differential.  Pepperdine dominated the back row with 47 digs to BYU's 37, but the opposition led 13 to 10 in blocks.  The Cougars had 22 service errors compared to the Waves' 18, but the high risk paid off as the home team led three to none in aces.    
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14         4          28        .357
2          11        5          28        .214
3          17        6          34        .324
4          10        4          30        .200
5          8          5          17        .176
TTL      60        25        138      .254
 
BYU ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          10        6          27        .148
2          13        6          29        .241
3          10        4          34        .176
4          18        3          33        .455
5          7          0          15        .467
TTL      58        19        138      .283
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Waves came out hot to start things up, as back-to-back solo rejections from Andersen Fuller helped the team to a 5-1 run.  BYU countered slowly to eventually tie the set at 10's, but smashes from Jaylen Jasper and an attack error from across the net helped Pepperdine to the three-point lead.  More kills from Jasper, along with Akin Akinwumi and Jacob Steele helped the squad move ahead to a 20-16 lead.  It would be a lead the Waves would ride to the end of the set as more kills from Jasper along with some errors from across the net would end things 25-21 in the Waves' favor.
 
Roles were reversed in the following set, as the Cougars came out to a 7-2 lead early on, though the Waves were able to tie the set at 11's with back-to-back Jasper, Fuller block collaborations.  After going point-for-point to a 19-all tie, BYU pulled ahead by three.  Jasper and Steele were able to collect a few more smashes in the set, though the home team would come away with a 25-22 set win to tie the overall score.
 
In true see-saw fashion, Pepperdine busted out of the third set starting gates with multiple smashes from Jasper and a block connection from Akinwumi and Jasper to take a 7-3 lead.  The Waves would not give up the lead throughout the whole set, as kills from Joe Deluzio and multiple errors from the Cougars propelled the squad to a 16-11 lead late.  Jasper helped the Waves to a 19-12 advantage with three-consecutive kills and Pepperdine used the edge to push to a 25-19 set win to gain the lead once again.
 
The fourth set was tight throughout with each side of the net collecting marginal leads, though BYU pulled away after a 12-12 tie to lead by three at the 17-14 mark.  Pepperdine came within three, 22-19, but would not be able to close the gap fully as BYU ended the set on a kill, 25-20. 
 
Jasper snagged the first kill of the fifth set, but the Cougars countered to take a two-point lead, 4-2.  A pair of smashes from Akinwumi and one from Jasper helped the cause and earned the Waves a 7-6 lead.  After Jasper's 36^th kill of the night, BYU started to gain traction, eventually working towards a 12-9 advantage.  Jasper posted his final 37^th kills, his career-high for a tied Pepperdine program career record mark, but the Cougars closed the door shortly after, 15-11 to take the 3-2 victory.
 
UP NEXT
Tomorrow, the Waves and Cougars will face off once again in Provo.  First service is slated for 6 p.m. PT.
 
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.