Box Score PROVO, Utah — Four from the #7 Pepperdine men's volleyball team hit for double-figures and two posted double-doubles on Saturday night in Smith Fieldhouse, but #8 BYU would have enough home court advantage to come away with the five-set victory.
 
The Waves (14-10, 4-4 MPSF) struck first 25-22, but the Cougars (14-6, 4-4 MPSF), took the lead with 25-16, 25-21 set scores.  Pepperdine rallied to win the fourth 25-23 and force a fifth set but BYU, a team that has not lost at home this year in its 10 matches, finished the match on a 15-13 final set win.
 
Junior setter Bryce Dvorak and redshirt-sophomore outside Joe Deluzio each posted double-doubles in the match, with 41 assists and 10 digs, 10 kills, 11 digs respectively.  Dvorak's is the fifth of his career and second this season, while it marks the first of Deluzio's career.
 
Three other Waves also hit for double-figures alongside Deluzio, as graduate opposite Jaylen Jasper, redshirt-junior Jacob Steele and junior Andersen Fuller tabbed 15, 14 and 10 kills respectively.  Jasper and Steele have posted 42 and 39 matches in the double-figure kill club.  Fuller posted his 10 kills on 16 errorless swings for a .667 success rate.
 
BIG WAVES
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 41 assists, 10 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace, 2 kills
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 10 kills, 11 digs, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 ace
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 15 kills, 5 digs, 6 blocks, 1 ace
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 14 kills, .360 hitting %, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 10 kills, .667 hitting %, 3 blocks, 3 digs
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y./Connetquot HS): 8 digs, 5 assists
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 5 blocks, 4 kills
 
WAVES VS. COUGARS
BYU had the edge on the offensive, though the Waves posted 55 kills to the opposition's 53, the Cougar's .314 outmatched the squad's .218.  The home team also had eight aces to Pepperdine's five.  Defensively, the Waves led with 43 digs to the Cougar's 32, but a 15-10 block differential went towards BYU's favor. 
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          12         5          28        .250
2          10        7          26        .115
3          14        6          32        .250
4          14        5          26        .346
5          5          5          12        .000
TTL      55        28        124      .218
 
BYU ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          12        6          32        .188
2          9         0          16        .562
3          13        3          32        .312
4          11        4          30        .233
5          8          2          11        .545
TTL      53        15        121      .314
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The match began with a point-for-point battle through the majority of the first set, but after an even 12-12, back-to-back smashes from Jacob Steele gave the Waves a two-point lead.  The squad would maintain the marginal lead with a solo block from Bryce Dvorak and more kills from Steele, but the Cougars would eventually answer to tie 17-17.  Pepperdine had the slight edge throughout the set, however, and after a 21-all tied score, a smash from Steele, some errors from across the net and a block collaboration from Dvorak and Andersen Fuller would end the set 25-22.
 
BYU took a small lead to open the second set, 6-4, but used to build towards a four-point lead shortly after.  It would be a gap the Waves would be unable to overcome as the Cougars tied the game on a 25-16 second set win. 
 
The third set was closer from start to finish and after a 12-12 tied score, a kill from Jaylen Jasper, followed by a solo rejection from the same Wave would push Pepperdine to a two-point advantage.  It would be an advantage kept through 17-14, but the opposition started to counter shortly after, eventually tying the set at 18's.  With the momentum on their side of the court, the Cougars put the set away 25-21 to pull ahead 2-1.
 
The fourth set would be another see-saw battle, as the Waves took a 5-3 lead with smashes from Steele, Deluzio and Jasper, but the Cougars took over at 11-9 with kills of their own.  Andersen Fuller found his rhythm with a smash to keep the Waves hanging tough and close aces from Jasper and Deluzio would give the squad another two-point lead at 19-17.  The Cougars would come within one at 23-22 and 24-23, but a final smash from Jasper would send the match to a fifth set for the second time in as many days and matches.
 
In the fifth and final set, each team worked to a 6-6 tie, the Waves wil kills from Fuller and Akin Akinwumi.  BYU would put down a kill and capitalize on a Waves' attack error for a two-point lead at the switch, however.  The Cougars would maintain the lead throughout much of the rest of the set and though a block from Fuller and Jasper followed by an ace and kill combo from Steele, tied the score 12-12, BYU ended the match with a 15-13 final set score.
 
UP NEXT
Next, the Waves will return to Malibu for one match next week, hosting Cal Lutheran on April 1 in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
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.