MALIBU, Calif. – The #12 Pepperdine men's volleyball team swept past #17 UC Santa Barbara in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday night, firing off 25-16, 25-21 and 25-23 set wins for the non-conference victory.
 
The Waves (9-2) dominated the match against the Gauchos (4-9), making quick work of the opponent tonight after having gone to five for the win on the road against UCSB on Thursday.  In the Waves nine victories this season, seven have been won in straight-sets.
 
The Waves hit .481 collectively with 45 kills, posting over a .400 success rate for the fourth time this season.  Cole Ketrzynski posted a season-high 19 kills on a .600 clip, marking double-figure kills for the ninth time in the 10 matches he's played at Pepperdine.  
 
BIG WAVES
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 19 kills, .600 hitting %, 4 digs, 3 blocks
Ethan Watson (Sunnyvale, Calif.): 9 kills, .727 hitting %, 6 blocks
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 8 kills, .467 hitting %, 5 digs, 4 blocks
Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif.): 7 kills, .429 hitting %, 5 blocks
Tyler Stewart (Broomfield, Colo.): 39 assists, 5 digs, 2 aces, 1 block
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 7 blocks
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 4 digs
 
WAVES VS. GAUCHOS
Pepperdine dominated the offensive, posting 45 kills on a .481 success rate, while allowing UCSB 29 kills on a .133 clip.  The Waves also had the edge at the net with 13.5 blocks, giving up only 2.0 to the opposition.  The Gauchos led at the service line, posting four aces to the Waves two, while Pepperdine marked 25 digs to the opposition's 19.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          17        1          24        .667
2          12        3          25        .360
3          16        4          28        .429
TTL      45        8          77        .481
 
UC SANTA BARBARA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          11        7          23        .174
2          5         8          25        -.120
3          13        4          27        .333
TTL      29        19        75        .133
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
After going point-for-point towards a 7-7 tie, a pair of kills from Akin Akinwumi and Cole Rasic followed by two block collaborations from Akinwumi with Ethan Watson pushed the Waves to an 11-7 lead.  It would give Pepperdine the momentum needed to stay strong throughout, with another pair of blocks from Rasic with either Watson or Martin de Chavarria propelling the squad to a 20-12 advantage.  UCSB picked up a few points, but Watson and Cole Ketrzynski put down a pair of smashes each to put the Waves ahead by eight and in a position to close 24-16.  Ketrzysnki and de Chavarria connected at the net to deny the opposition and end the set 25-16 for the first real advantage of the night.
 
Another block from Watson and Ketzrynski opened up the second set, followed by big kills from the latter and Waves led by three, 5-2.  Akinwumi and de Chavarria connected on another rejection and Watson and Rasic followed it up with more smashes to keep ahead, 10-9.  The Malibu Roofing Company continued with another pair of blocks – this time from Rasic and de Chavarria – to make it 17-12.  Ketrzynski and Akinwumi went back-to-back on the smash front shortly after, helping Pepperdine to a three-point advantage at the 21-18 mark.  Though UCSB countered to come within one 21-20, a pair of kills from Ketrzynski and a block from Ryan Barnett and de Chavarria put the squad at set point 24-20.  Ketrzynski closed up the set with a kill, 25-21.
 
The Gauchos started off hot in the third set, building to a 13-7 lead, but three kills from Ketrzynski and a Watson, Tyler Stewart block connection brought the Waves within one 13-12.  After a UCSB timeout, Pepperdine capitalized on an attack error to even the score and the two teams then traded points en route to a 22-all score.  Ketrzynski and Rasic went back-to-back on the attack to put the squad in a position to close and a final attack error from across the net would do the trick for a 25-23 Pepperdine set win.
 
UP NEXT
Next week, the Waves will head to UCLA on Wednesday before returning home to host the Bruins on Saturday.  
 
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.