WESTWOOD, Calif. — Though the #9 Pepperdine men's volleyball team took an exciting 28-26 first set win over #2 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night, the Bruins would eventually take the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win after following with 25-20, 25-16 and 25-15 set scores.
 
The Waves finished out the regular season with a 16-13 overall record and went 5-7 among MPSF opponents. 
 
BIG WAVES
Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck Senior HS/Stanford): 15 kills, 5 digs
Jacob Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./El Toro HS): 7 kills, 5 digs, 3 blocks
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius HS): 8 kills, .400 hitting %, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Bryce Dvorak (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar HS): 32 assists, 5 digs
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Peninsula HS): 5 blocks, 3 kills
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy): 4 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Yadiel Diaz (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Timber Creek HS): 6 digs
 
WAVES VS. BRUINS
UCLA had the edge throughout most the match, posting 58 kills on a .419 clip, while Pepperdine posted 40 kills on a .162 output.  The Waves added seven blocks and an ace, but the Bruins had amassed 16 blocks and six aces to secure the win.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        5          32        .312
2          10        6          24        .167
3          8          6          26        .077
4          7          6          24        .042
TTL      40        23        105      .162
 
UCLA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        5          27        .370
2          13        3          24        .417
3          15        5          29        .345
4          15        1          25        .560
TTL      58        14        105      .419
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
UCLA came out of the starting gate towards a 5-2 lead, but Pepperdine countered with back-to-back blocks from Jacob Steele and Akin Akinwumi, as well as an ace from Andersen Fuller to make it an even 10-10.  It was a see-saw battle from then on out with the Waves gaining a two-point 19-17 lead late in the action to force a Bruins' timeout.  The opposition fought back, though, evening the score at 23-apiece.  UCLA took the first point for a set-point opportunity, but a kill from Joe Deluzio helped fend them off.  The squad was able to fight another set-point option off before back-to-back smashes from Steele closed the set down 28-26.
 
Though the Waves had the first advantage in the match, after a 7-7 tied score in the second set, the Bruins would start to take over.  Kills from Jaylen Jasper and Kevin Roberts helped the cause, but the opposition eventually posted a 21-14 advantage late in the set.  Pepperdine capitalized on a few UCLA errors and added a few kills from Akinwumi and Fuller to come within four, but the Bruins took the set 25-20.
 
It would be an advantage the home team would carry through the next two sets, pulling ahead 16-8 in the third set en route to a 25-16 set win to gain a 2-1 advantage in the match.  The Waves fought in the fourth set, but the momentum was on the Bruins side of the court as UCLA then took a 25-15 fourth set win to close out the match.
 
UP NEXT
The MPSF Tournament begins in Palo Alto on Wednesday, April 19 and runs through Saturday, April 22.  The No. 5-seeded Waves are slated to challenge No. 4-seeded Grand Canyon at 8:05 p.m. in the MPSF quarterfinal on Wednesday.
 
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.