MALIBU, Calif. — The #10 Pepperdine men's volleyball team heads back out on the road this week, this time trekking to the East Coast for a pair of matches against #16 Princeton and FDU.

MATCH #8 — Friday (February 2) at Dillon Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J.: #10 Pepperdine (6-1) at #16 Princeton (4-3) at 1 p.m. PT | ESPN+

MATCH #9 — Saturday (February 3) at Bogota Savings Bank Center in Hackensack, N.J.: #10 Pepperdine (6-1) at FDU (5-1) at 2 p.m. PT | NEC Front Row

COVERAGE — The matches this weekend will stream live on ESPN+ or NEC Front Row respectively.  Live scoring will be available for all matches.  Links can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.

UP NEXT — Pepperdine will have a split week the following week, heading to UC Santa Barbara on February 8 before hosting the Gauchos on February 10.  The match on February 10 will be 'Neighborhood Night' for the Waves, with free shaved ice for the first 100 fans, an autograph session after the game and more.  For discounted tickets for your group of 10 or more, reach out to the Pepperdine Ticket Office.

FOLLOW — Follow the Waves on Facebook and X, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram and TikTok, @peppmvb.  Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.

RANKINGS — Pepperdine remained in the #10 spot on the AVCA national poll for the third-consecutive week.  The Waves began the season at #13 and moved up each of the first two weeks of action.  In addition to the team ranking, the Waves have been making quite the splash on the team and individual stat rankings in this early season.  Pepperdine ranks top-15 nationally and first or second in the MPSF in six statistical categories.  The Waves rank second nationally in digs (9.91), third in assists (12.04) and opponent hitting percentage (.096), sixth in kills (12.48), seventh in hitting percentage (.346) and eighth in blocks (2.5).

Martin de Chavarria leads the MPSF and ranks second nationally with 1.62 blocks, while Andersen Fuller ranking fifth in the league with 1.00 blocks.  Trey Cole also leads the league and ranks second nationally, with 2.86 digs. 

LAST WEEK — The Waves had one match on the docket last week and fell 25-19, 25-13, 25-21 to the toughest opponent of the season so far, #3 Long Beach State.  Pepperdine amassed 30 kills on a .105 clip, while giving up 29 kills on a .288 output to the opposition.  LBSU led 15.0 to 5.0 in team blocks and seven to two in aces.

SQUAD — The Waves have gone 6-1 to start the campaign this season and have won four of those matches in straight sets.  As a team, Pepperdine produces 12.48 kills on a .346 clip, while adding 12.04 assists, 1.83 aces, 9.91 digs and 2.52 blocks.  The squad gives up only 8.13 kills on a .096 output on average, along with 0.83 aces, 7.57 digs and 1.89 blocks per set. 

Cole Ketrzynski and Ryan Barnett lead the attack output for the Waves with 3.39 and 2.95 kills/set respectively.  Ketrzynski leads the team with 61 total kills, while Barnett has amassed 56 on a .360 success rate.  Martin de Chavarria and Andersen Fuller lead the squad at the net with 1.62 and 1.00 blocks/set respectively.  De Chavarria has produced 34 blocks, with six solo rejections.  Ketrzynski also leads the team with nine aces and 0.50 aces/set so far this season.  Fuller is next in line with six, while Ryan Barnett, Tyler Stewart and Cole Rasic have added five apiece.

Trey Cole has marked a team-best 2.86 digs/set, tallying 60 digs this season.  Tyler Stewart leads in playmaking duties, having put up 8.67 assists/set.

OPPONENT — Princeton has gone 4-3 overall this season with wins against UC San Diego and CSUN.  Most recently, the Tigers have lost to MPSF opponent BYU.  Princeton will also play UC Santa Barbara Wednesday night.  The Waves have gone 9-0 against the Tigers all-time, dating back to 1991 when the teams first faced in Malibu.  Pepperdine has gone 7-0 against Princeton at home, 2-0 on neutral courts and have never played at Dillon Gymnasium. 

FDU has gone 5-1 overall this season thus far.  This will be the first time the two teams have faced, as the Knights' program began in the 2022 campaign.