Box Score MALIBU, Calif. –  A well-rounded effort propelled the #10 Pepperdine men's volleyball team to a 25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22 win over McKendree, a team receiving votes in the latest AVCA coaches poll, Friday night in Firestone Fieldhouse. 
 
Senior libero Trey Cole impressed with a career-high 19 digs in the match, tying the Pepperdine single-match program record in the rally scoring era.  Two other Waves in program history have achieved the feat in this era, Brennan Anderson against UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 3, 2015) and James Ka against USC (March 17, 2005), and both did so in four-set matches as well.  The sideout era program record is 112 digs by Matt Rigg against Penn State in the NCAA semifinal match (May 2, 1986) – and the Waves went on to win the NCAA Championship in the following match.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Ryan Barnett and graduate Cole Ketrzynski led the Waves with 15 and 13 kills respectively.  It was both of the duo's third match this season beyond the double-figure kill mark.  Barnett's 15 smashes were a career-best and he accumulated a solid .448 clip in the process, while Ketrzynski led the effort with three aces.  In addition, graduate Martin de Chavarria posted his second-consecutive match with nine blocks for the Waves, having done so as the Waves bested Lincoln Memorial last week as well. 
 
Pepperdine improved to a 5-0 start to the 2024 campaign, while McKendree dropped to 0-2.  Tomorrow, the Waves and Bearcats will face off once again in Firestone Fieldhouse.  First serve is slated for 2 p.m. and the match will stream on ESPN+.
 
BIG WAVES
Ryan Barnett (Long Island, N.Y.): 15 kills, .448 hitting %, 4 blocks, 4 digs, 2 assists, 1 ace
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 13 kills, 5 digs, 4 blocks, 3 aces
Martin de Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 9 blocks, 9 kills, .538 hitting %
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 19 digs
Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif.): 9 kills, 12 digs
Tyler Stewart (Broomfield, Colo.): 39 assists, 4 digs
 
WAVES VS. BEARCATS
The Waves out-attacked the Bearcats throughout the match, with 53 smashes on a powerful .355 clip, while giving up 45 kills on a .229 output.  The home team put in .500 hitting percentages in two of the four sets (first and third), while McKendree's set-high attack performance was .464 in the third set.  Pepperdine led six aces to five, but both teams had a high service error output with the Waves marginally leading with 19 to the opposition's 20.  The Waves defensive efforts proved strong, however, leading 10.0-8.0 in blocks and 48-36 in digs throughout.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15         1          28        .500
2          13        6          30        .233
3          11        1          20        .500
4          14        6          32        .250
TTL      53        14        110      .355
 
MCKENDREE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          8          5          31        .097
2          10        4          30        .200
3          16        3          28        .464
4          11        6          29        .172
TTL      45        18        118      .229
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves got off to a hot start with kills from Cole Ketrzynski and Tyler Stewart to set the tone.  A big pair of blocks from Martin de Chavarria, with either Cole Ketrzynski or Ryan Barnett, and an ace from Ketrzynski helped push the squad to a 6-1 run for 9-4 advantage.  Pepperdine would continue with that momentum en route to a six-point lead at the 15-9-mark courtesy of multiple smashes from Ketrzynski and Andersen Fuller.  A Fuller, Barnett block collaboration shortly after helped the cause and an ace from Barnett gave the Waves a 21-14 lead down the back stretch.  Kills from Akin Akinwumi and Ketrzynski, along with a final block from the latter and de Chavarria, closed the set down 25-17.
 
Kills from de Chavarria and Cole Rasic, along with a Ketrzynski ace, pushed the Waves to a 7-4 open to the second set.  Another pair of blocks from de Chavarria, with Stewart or Rasic on either time, propelled the squad to a 15-10 lead at the media timeout.  James Eadie and de Chavarria went back-to-back on the smash front, and Akinwumi followed up with a kill soon after to keep Pepperdine moving forward, 20-15.  Akinwumi kept up the energy with an ace of his own, helping the squad to a 23-18 lead down to the end.  Barnett picked up a kill and the opposing team finished the set with a service error to give the home team a 2-0 lead heading into the third set.
 
The third set told a different tale to start with McKendree coming out strong on a 3-0 run.  The Waves countered by capitalizing on errors from across the net as well as a Ketrzynski, de Chavarria block connection, 4-4.  The two teams went nearly point-for-point towards even 7-7 and 12-12 tied scores before a pair of kills from across the net pushed the Bearcats to a 15-13 lead.  Each team exchanged multiple service errors toward the back stretch, but the opposition appeared to have a late edge on the set 21-18, forcing a Waves' timeout.  Although Ketrzysnki put down a kill and Alex Mrkalj landed an ace to close the gap, the opposition had the momentum and used it for a 25-22 win to force a fourth set.
 
Pepperdine started the set with a 5-1 run courtesy of a de Chavarria, Barnett block effort and a Rasic smash.  The opposition countered to tie the set at 5's, but more kills from de Chavarria, Ketrzynski, Barnett and Rasic kept the Waves moving forward en route to a 12-8 lead.  Another block from de Chavarria and Barnett extended the home team's lead to five, 16-11, but the Bearcats closed the gap to two with a block and some kills of their own.  The two teams kept exchanging points with errors and kills on both sides of the net and Pepperdine called a timeout with a 20-19 lead.  Ketrzynski then found the floor and followed up with a block alongside de Chavarria to make it a three-point spread, 22-19.  The opposition countered to come within one at the 23-22 mark, but some crafty Waves' defense and a Rasic smash gave put Pepperdine in the position to close.  The Waves would do just that in the next point with a dominant Barnett kill for the 25-22 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
 
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