IRVINE, Calif. –  For the second time this week, the #10 Pepperdine men's volleyball team went to five with an opponent on the road and prevailed, besting Concordia University Irvine at CU Arena on Saturday night.
 
Pepperdine (12-5, 2-3 MPSF) answered a CUI (6-7, 0-3 MPSF) 25-20 first set win with a 25-22 second to tie the score.  The opposition pulled ahead once again, 25-20, but the Waves refused to roll over and the squad lit a fire to force a fifth with a 25-20 fourth set victory.
 
The fifth set was point-for-point throughout, with an early block from Ryan Graves and Martin de Chavarria starting things out 2-2.  Kills from Ryan Barnett and Cole Ketrzynski continued the Waves moving forward en route to 8's.  Another rejection letter sent from Barnett and de Chavarria and Pepperdine had the two-point edge, 10-8, to force a CUI timeout.  The squad would show no letup as well with three smashes from Barnett extending the Waves' lead to three, 13-10.  Pepperdine remained composed through an attack error and service error from across the net to win the set 15-12 and secure the team's third fifth-set win of the year.
 
Graves and Tyler Stewart dished Pepperdine to a season-high 62 kills on a .321 hitting percentage, leading nine Waves to at least one kills and four to nine or more throughout the match.  Ketrzynski impressed with his first career double-double after amassing a career-best 20 kills on a .405 success rate, as well as 10 digs.  Barnett also hit for double-figure kills for the sixth time this season with 14 smashes. 
 
It was not all offense, however, as de Chavarria was solid with a career-high 10 blocks.  As a team, Pepperdine marked a season-best 17.5 blocks with five players having tabbed four or more blocks and eight with at least one.
 
BIG WAVES
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 20 kills, .405 hitting %, 10 digs, 4 blocks, 1 ace
Ryan Barnett (Long Island, N.Y.): 14 kills, 8 digs
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 10 blocks, 3 kills
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 9 kills, 3 digs, 1 block, 1 ace
Alex Mrkalj (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada): 9 kills, 7 blocks, 4 digs, 1 ace
Ethan Watson (Sunnyvale, Calif.): 6 blocks, 3 kills, 1 ace
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 8 digs
Ryan Graves (Irvine, Calif.): 47 assists, 5 blocks
Tyler Stewart (Broomfield, Colo.): 10 assists
 
WAVES VS. GOLDEN EAGLES
Pepperdine put up some big numbers as a team tonight, marking a season-best 17.5 blocks, while giving up 12.5 to Concordia.  The Waves also impressed with a season-high 62 kills on a .321 success rate, while allowing 58 kills on a .229 to the Golden Eagles.  Though CUI in aces with a six to one ratio, Pepperdine's 41 digs out-worked Concordia's 41 throughout the match.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          11        9          32        .062
2          15        3          34        .353
3          12        2          27        .370
4          14        4          22        .455
5          10        1          19        .474
TTL      62        19        134      .321
 
CUI ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          13        3          28        .357
2          15        7          40        .200
3          14        4          24        .417
4          8          8          28        .000
5          8          3          24        .208
TTL      58        25        144      .229
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Golden Eagles started out with a 5-1 lead, though a pair of kills from Martin de Chavarria and Cole Ketrzynski helped the Waves start to close the gap.  More attacks from across the net extended the opposition's advantage to 14-8. A block collaboration from Ethan Watson and Ketrzynski and the Waves were rolling towards the Golden Eagles.  An ace from Joe Deluzio kept things going late in the set en route to a two-point deficit, 19-17.  Another ace, this time from Akin Akinwumi and Pepperdine was within one, 21-20.  Despite the late rally, Concordia came away with the 25-20 set win.
 
Akinwumi and Alex Mrkalj laid down some kills and Watson marked an ace to start the Waves off 4-2.  Three blocks in four points, all of which featuring Watson pushed Pepperdine to a 12-7 advantage.  Another block from Watson and Akinwumi kept the momentum moving forward en route to a 20-16 lead.  Ketrzynski caught fire in the final moments of the set with another trio of kills, including the one to end the set 25-22 in favor of the Waves.
 
The two teams worked point-for-point to open the third set, eventually reaching an 9-9 tie with a block from Ketrzynski and de Chavarria.  After a kill from each Ketrzynski and Akinwumi made it 11's, the opposition started to work ahead. Kills from Mrkalj impacted the set, but the Golden Eagles were able to gain some traction along with a 20-15 lead.  Though another block from de Chavarria and Ryan Graves closed the gap to two, 21-19, CUI was able to win the set 25-20.
 
A pair of kills in the first three plays of the fourth set made it an even 2-2, but Concordia was able to put down a few kills of their own to eventually lead 7-4.  After trailing by four, Barnett went back-to-back on the smash front, followed up by a kill from Ketrzynski to close the gap, 10-10.  Each side traded points, including a Malibu Roofing Company effort from Mrkalj and de Chavarria for a 15-all tie.  Mrkalj and de Chavarria collaborated on another rejection, this time along with Graves, and Graves followed up with a kill to put the Waves two ahead and force a CUI timeout.  The brick wall at the net stayed true as another block from Mrkalj and de Chavarria kept the Waves on top and a pair of kills from the former extended the team's lead to four, 20-16.  James Eadie joined in on the action with a kill and a block with Mrkalj to put the Waves in a position to win the set 24-19.  A service error from across the net would do the honors to force a fifth, 25-20.
 
Pepperdine went on to secure the MPSF win with a 15-12 fifth set win.
 
UP NEXT
Next week, the Waves hit the road and head to the Carolinas, first playing at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina on March 7 before closing up the trip against North Greenville in South Carolina the following day.
 
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.