SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – It was a see-saw battle in Rob Gymnasium on Thursday night, as the #12 Pepperdine men's volleyball team clashed with non-conference opponent #17 UC Santa Barbara in the first of a two-match series.  The Waves won in five.
 
Despite falling 25-13 to the Gauchos (4-8) in the first set, the Waves (8-2) rallied to win the next two sets 25-22, 25-23.  However, the opposition picked up a 25-20 set win to force a fifth. 
 
Cole Rasic and Akin Akinwumi put down kills for an early edge in the fifth set, though the two teams traded points en route to a 7-7 tied score.  Ethan Watson connected with Akinwumi and Rasic for a set of near back-to-back blocks, and then picked up a solo rejection as well, to give the Waves a meaningful five-point edge 12-7.  Though UCSB was able to snag a few more points, three more kills from each Rasic, Akinwumi and Watson shut the match down with a 15-9 set win.
 
Four Waves hit for double-figures, including Rasic (12), Akinwumi (11), Cole Ketrzynski (11) and Watson (10).  It was the eighth match in double-digits for Ketrzynski this season, while it was the third for Akinwumi and first for Rasic and Watson.  Along with his career-high attack effort on a team-high .529 hitting output, Watson led the team with a career-best nine blocks including a pair of solo rejections. 
 
Tyler Stewart picked up the first double-double of his career after marking 37 assists and leading Pepperdine with 10 digs tonight.  It's the second double-double by any Wave this season, though the other was with kills and digs.
 
BIG WAVES
Ethan Watson (Sunnyvale, Calif.): 10 kills, .529 hitting %, 9 blocks (2 solos)
Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif.): 12 kills, .320 hitting %, 5 digs, 4 blocks, 1 ace
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 11 kills, 5 blocks, 3 digs
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 11 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 6 blocks (1 solo), 5 kills, 1 ace
Tyler Stewart (Broomfield, Colo.): 37 assists, 10 digs
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 5 digs, 2 assists, 37 serve receptions (no errors)
 
WAVES VS. GAUCHOS
Pepperdine out-blocked UC Santa Barbara 16.0 to 8.0 at the net, making a significant impact on the match.  The Gauchos had an extremely slight edge with 53 kills on a .281 clip to the Waves 52 kills on a .232 output, as well as five aces to three, and each team collected 35 digs throughout the match.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          5          10        25        -.200
2          16        1          27        .556
3          10        4          28        .214
4          12        8          32        .125
5          12        8          32        .125
TTL      52        23        125      .232
 
UC SANTA BARBARA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          8          2          14        .429
2          12        3          21        .429
3          16        10        35        .171
4          11        1          26        .385
5          6          5          18        .056
TTL      53        21        114      .281
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
UCSB got off to a hot start against the Waves with a 7-2 run.  Though kills from Akin Akinwumi and Andersen Fuller helped the cause, the opposition eventually led 15-9.  Martin de Chavarria and Cole Ketrzynski connected on a block collaboration shortly after, but the efforts would not close the gap and the Gauchos would go on a four-point run to end the set 25-13.
 
The second set told a different tale, however, as big kills from Akinwumi and Ethan Watson got things started.  Watson and Cole Rasic went back-to-back a few plays later to give the Waves a 15-10 lead.  Watson then picked up a service ace, followed by near back-to-back smashes from Ketrzynski en route to a 20-16 advantage for Pepperdine.  The Gauchos were able to come within one at the 23-22 mark, but the Waves capitalized on a service error from across the net, followed by a Rasic kill for the 25-22 set win to tie the overall.
 
UC Santa Barbara came out tough in the third set, building to a 10-4 lead, but Pepperdine would show no let-up, coming within a two-point deficit at the 12-10 mark with an ace from de Chavarria and blocks from Watson with either Ketrzynski or Rasic.  The Waves kept pounding down with kills from Watson and solo rejections from de Chavarria and Ryan Barnett to bring the score within one, 21-10.  Three back-to-back blocks – a solo from Watson and collaborations from Watson and Ketrzynski flipped the script and propelled the Waves to lead the set 23-21.  Pepperdine and UCSB traded points, but a kill from Ketrzynski shut the set down 25-23 to give the squad a 2-1 lead heading into the third set.
 
After a 7-7 tie to open the fourth set, UCSB went on an 7-0 run to pull ahead and Pepperdine would be unable to overcome throughout the set.  Kills from Watson and de Chavarria helped the cause and brought the Waves within four, but the opposition took the home court advantage to a 25-20 set win to force the fifth set.
 
The Waves had the edge in the fifth set, eventually winning 15-9.
 
UP NEXT
On Saturday, the Waves will return the favor and host the Gauchos in Firestone Fieldhouse.  First serve is slated for 5 p.m. and the match will be Neighborhood Night with fun activities for all.  Contact wavestix@pepperdine.edu for information on group rates.  
 
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.