MALIBU, Calif. — The #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team is back in Malibu to host Cal Lutheran this week.
 
MATCH #25 — Saturday (April 1) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: #8 Pepperdine (14-10) vs. Cal Lutheran (18-10) at 6 p.m.
 
COVERAGE — The match will have live stats and live stream available with the matches streaming live on WaveCasts on the WCC Network.  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, 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.
 
RECORD TOPPER JASPER — On March 24 at BYU, Jaylen Jasper tied the Pepperdine men's volleyball record for most kills in a single match during the rally scoring era after amassing an impressive 37 smashes.  The feat had been accomplished thrice before, all by Pepperdine alumnus and former Waves' assistant coach Paul Carroll, who topped the record books in five sets at UCLA in 2007 and at home against USC in 2009, as well as in four sets against UC Irvine in Malibu in 2009.
 
LAST WEEK — The Waves went to Provo last week for two MPSF matches against BYU, though the Cougars would come away with both after a pair of five-set battles.  In the opener, the Waves and Cougars split the opening sets 25-21, 25-22, but Pepperdine snagged a 25-19 third set to take the lead.  BYU had the home court advantage, though, and forced a fifth with a 25-20 set win before coming away with a 15-11 win in the fifth to take the match.  Jaylen Jasper led with his record-tying 37 kills on a .443 clip, while adding seven digs and a season-high six blocks.  Trey Cole also amassed a season-high 16 digs, while Andersen Fuller was good for a season-best six blocks. 
 
In the following match, the Waves pulled ahead early with a 25-22 first set, but the Cougars answered with 25-16 and 25-21 set wins to overtake the lead.  Pepperdine rallied in the fourth to take the set 25-23, but BYU was able to win the fifth 15-13 to win the match.  Bryce Dvorak and Joe Deluzio each posted double-doubles in the match with 41 assists, 10 digs and 10 kills, 11 digs respectively.  Alongside Deluzio, Jasper, Jacob Steele and Andersen Fuller hit for double-figures with 15, 14 and 10 kills respectively. 
 
WAVES IMPRESS IN THE STAT RANKINGS — After 10 weeks of action, the Waves are second the nation with 13.01 kills/set and 12.21 assists/set and sixth with a .342 hitting percentage, while ranking 18th in service aces (1.54). 
 
Bryce Dvorak also ranks second in the nation in assists/set (10.57).  Jaylen Jasper is second in kills/set (5.03) and points/set (5.55), 7th in attacks/set (8.92) and 13th in hitting percentage (.385) among others.  Trey Cole ranks 16th in digs/set (2.08) and Akin Akinwumi ranks 6th in hitting percentage (.441) and 30th in aces/set (0.37). 
 
OPPONENTS — Cal Lutheran has gone 18-10 so far this season, including a 5-2 record on the road.  Most recently, the Kingsmen lost to Ottawa and Nazareth, while defeating Lasell in five.  Pepperdine has only faced Cal Lutheran twice all-time, sweeping on both occasions in 2018 and 2020.