MALIBU, Calif. – The #11 Pepperdine men's volleyball team faced off with #4 UCLA in Firestone Fieldhouse for the second time this week on Saturday afternoon, falling in three.
 
Though the Waves (9-4, 0-2 MPSF) put up a tough battle in the first set, which resulted in a narrow Bruins (12-3, 2-0 MPSF) 30-28 set win, UCLA would confidently take the following sets 25-11, 25-19 to win the day.
 
Akin Akinwumi led the Waves with 16 kills, hitting in double-digits for the fourth time this season and 10^th time in his career. 
 
Next week, Pepperdine will host Stanford for a pair of matches in Firestone Fieldhouse on February 23 and 24.
 
BIG WAVES
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 16 kills, .345 hitting %, 1 block
Tyler Stewart (Broomfield, Colo.): 19 assists
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 2 blocks
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 3 digs
Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif.): 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace
 
WAVES VS. BRUINS
UCLA led offensively with 40 kills on a .463 clip, as well as 10 aces, compared to Pepperdine's 26 kills on a .138 output with two aces.  The two teams were close on the back line, with the Bruins 16 digs edging out the Waves' 14, but the opposition led 8.5 to 3.5 in blocks to round out the stat line.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          13        7          30        .200
2          4          4          12        .000
3          9          6          23        .130
TTL      26        17        65        .138
 
UCLA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        3          30        .433
2          14       2          19        .632
3          10        4          18        .333
TTL      40        9          67        .463
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine got off to a hot start with a 5-0 run courtesy of an ace from Cole Rasic, kills from Rasic and Akin Akinwumi and a pair of attack errors from across the net.  Though the opposition broke the egg in the next play, another trio of smashes from Akinwumi helped the home squad to a 9-4 advantage.  Pepperdine kept building momentum with kills from Akinwumi and Cole Ketrzynski, though UCLA brouth the score within one at the 18-17 mark.  Eventually the two teams were working point-for-point with 20-20 and 23-23 tied scores. 
 
The Bruins picked up a set-point opportunity with a Waves service error, but traded one of their own to make it 24's.  Ryan Barnett then entered the match to serve, finding a vulnerable spot for an ace to give Pepperdine a set-point option of their own.  UCLA countered, but a block from Tyler Stewart, Ethan Watson and Ilay Haver kept the home working 27-apiece.  The Waves fended off another set-point opportunity, but a back-to-back Bruins kill and block combination ended the set 30-28 in favor of the opposition.
 
The second set would start in favor of the Bruins as the team worked to a 6-1 lead to open the match.  It would be a gap the Waves would be unable to close as the opposition worked to a 16-6 lead later in the set.  A few kills from Barnett and Rasic helped the cause, but UCLA put the set away 25-11.
 
The third set would be tight once again with the Waves and Bruins working to an 8-8 tie early on.  A block from Akinwumi and Martin de Chavarria, followed by a UCLA attack error gave the Waves a two-point edge and the squad would keep that advantage through 12-10 before the Bruins countered to tie the score.  The teams exchanged points shortly after, with kills from Watson coming on the home side, though UCLA created some momentum shortly after to take a five-point lead, 21-16.  The Bruins would use the advantage to go on and win the set 25-19.
 
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.