MALIBU, Calif. –  In the presence of the 40 notable alumni that attended the match in Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night, the Pepperdine men's volleyball team rallied from a first set loss to win the following three and secure a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win over #11 Southern California.
 
The alumni in the building included a bevy of All-Americans, NCAA players of the year, multiple single or two-time NCAA champions, national championship coaches and Olympians.  The Waves (15-5, 3-3 MPSF) bounced back from a 25-22 first set loss to win 28-26, 25-23 and 25-20 for the victory over the Trojans (11-10, 2-5 MPSF).
 
Freshman setter Ryan Graves did a nice job dishing the ball out for a tied career-high 47 assists tonight.  He pushed the Waves offense to eight players with at least one kill and five with six or more.  Graduates Cole Ketrzynski and Alex Mrkalj blasted off with 15 and 10 kills respectively, while Mrkalj did so on a .615 success rate and added a team-high three aces. 
 
BIG WAVES
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 15 kills, 6 digs, 3 blocks, 24 serve receptions (0 errors)
Alex Mrkalj (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada): 10 kills, .615 hitting %, 4 blocks, 3 aces
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 9 kills, .615 hitting %, 4 blocks
Ethan Watson (Sunnyvale, Calif.): 7 blocks (1 solo), 4 kills
Ryan Graves (Irvine, Calif.): 47 assists, 4 digs, 1 block, 1 ace
Ryan Barnett (Long Island, N.Y.): 6 kills 1 block
Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif.): 6 kills, 3 blocks
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 5 digs, 21 serve receptions (1 error)
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 4 kills, 3 digs
 
WAVES VS. TROJANS
The match was tight from beginning to end and the stat lines were marginally different here to there.  Though USC led the match with 59 kills to Pepperdine's 55, the Waves .358 success rate surpassed the Trojans' .342.  The home squad also edged out the opposition with a 12.0 to 9.5 block differential, while leading at the service line five to three.  USC did produce more on the back line with 32 digs to Pepperdine's 25.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        5          29        .310
2          15        3          31        .387
3          11        6          26        .192
4          15        2          23        .565
TTL      55        16        109      .358
 
USC ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        2          27        .444
2          19        7          41        .293
3          13        5          20        .400
4          13        6          26        .269
TTL      59        20        114      .342

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Kills from Cole Ketrzynski and Akin Akinwumi got the Waves started with a 4-2 lead, but the Trojans were able to counter and tie the score at 4's with a few stops at the net.  USC used that momentum to build to a 10-7 lead, but Pepperdine capitalized on another pair of kills from Akinwumi to bring the score within one, 10-9.  Shortly after a few kills from across the net extended the opposition's advantage to four, 15-11, and then again to 20-15.  Ryan Graves picked up the energy with an ace late in the action and Ryan Barnett and Ethan Watson kept things going with a block collaboration to start closing the gap.  Another kill from Ketrzynski made it a 20-19 ballgame, but the Trojans regained composure and took the first set 25-22.
 
The Trojans started the next set with a 5-1 lead, but after a Waves' timeout, Pepperdine started to close the gap with kills from Alex Mrkalj and Ketrzynski to help the cause.  The Waves capitalized on a few errors from across the net to close the gap to two, 10-8, and a few more Mrkalj kills eventually saw the squad within one, 13-12.  The two teams exchanged points shortly after, but the Trojans were able to extend their lead once again to five, 20-15.  A Watson, Mrkalj block connection, along with some more errors from across the net, earned Pepperdine three-straight points and forced a USC timeout.  After a late surge that found the Waves one-away, 24-23, a monster block by Ketrzynski and Martin de Chavarria tied the score.  Massive defensive plays with multiple Malibu Roofing Company jobs and an incredible save from libero Trey Cole kept the energy afloat and gave Pepperdine a chance to close the set, 25-24. USC battled off a pair of set points, but a kill from Ketrzynski and an attack error from across the net would end the set 28-26 and tie the overall score.
 
The third set would prove to be a see-saw battle from the start, with the two squads battling towards a tie at 9's before a pair of aces from Mrkalj and a kill from Cole Rasic pushed the home team to a 4-0 run.  The Waves would maintain the lead through the rest of the set with kills from Graves and de Chavarria, as well as a Mrkalj, Rasic, Watson block collaboration, to bring the lead to five at the 20-15 mark.  USC brought the score within one, 20-19, but another pair of kills from de Chavarria and Rasic kept the squad ahead of the action.  Mrkalj blasted another ace from the service line and Rasic and de Chavarria connected to deny a Trojans' attack at the net to give Pepperdine a chance to win the set 24-19.  USC fended off four set point opportunities from the home team, but Pepperdine prevailed on a strong Ketrzynski smash to win the set 25-23.
 
Another point-for-point battle would be featured to begin the fourth set with kills from de Chavarria and Ketrzynski progressing the score to an even 5-apiece.  Watson and Mrkalj rejected a pair of Trojans' attack efforts to propel the squad ahead by three, 9-6.  More Rasic and Ketrzysnki smashes pushed the lead to 12-8 and forced a USC timeout.  The Waves kept pounding down with smashes from Ketrzynski and de Chavarria to help the cause.  Watson collected on a solo rejection to keep the tone in check and another pair of smashes from Watson and Mrkalj extended Pepperdine's lead to five, 17-12.  The opposition started to inch back into things, but a kill from Mrkalj and an ace from Brendan Read would force a USC timeout at the 19-15 mark.  A duo of near-consecutive kills from de Chavarria and Ketrzynski, along with a block from the same pair, pushed Pepperdine into a good position to close the match, 23-20.  Ketrzynski hammered one down to bring the team one step closer to match point and he and Watson went up at the net to deny the last USC attack of the night for the Waves' win, 25-20.
 
UP NEXT
On Saturday, the Waves host Concordia, a team receiving votes in the AVCA coaches poll.  First serve is slated for 5 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse.  For those not in attendance, the match will stream live on ESPN+.
 
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.