MALIBU, Calif. – It was a see-saw battle from the beginning of the first set in Firestone Fieldhouse on Friday night, as the #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team went toe-to-toe with #7 BYU for an MPSF bout. 
 
The Waves (16-6, 4-4 MPSF) struck first with a 26-24 set win, though the Cougars (12-7, 3-4 MPSF) anted up with a pair of 25-19 and 25-22 set wins to pull ahead.  Pepperdine forced the fifth with a 25-20 fourth set, but BYU gained early momentum en route to a 15-12 final set win.
 
Akin Akinwumi had a stellar night for the home team, earning the third double-double of his career and the second this season after blasting a career-best 24 kills and 10 digs – one shy of his career-high.  His offensive effort came on a commanding .415 success rate after 41 swings as well. It's his sixth time this campaign and 12^th time overall hitting for double-figures, while he's also tabbed double-figure digs three times this season and four times in his career.
 
Akinwumi was not alone on the front or back lines either, as Trey Cole amassed a team-best 11 digs for his eighth match in double-digits and 22^nd career.  Cole Ketrzynski and Ryan Barnett each added nine kills apiece as well, and Ketrzynski did so while producing a career-best eight blocks.
 
BIG WAVES
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 24 kills, .415 hitting %, 10 digs, 1 block, 1 ace
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 9 kills, 8 blocks, 5 digs, 3 assists, 1 ace
Ryan Barnett (Long Island, N.Y.): 9 kills, 2 blocks
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 5 blocks, 3 kills
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 11 digs, 4 assists
Ryan Graves (Irvine, Calif.): 47 assists, 3 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace, 2 kills
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y.): 6 blocks
Alex Mrkalj (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada): 6 kills, 2 digs, 1 block, 1 ace
James Eadie (Newport Beach, Calif.): 5 kills, 3 blocks
 
WAVES VS. COUGARS
The two squads were neck-and-net throughout the match, with the Waves leading on the attack with 58 kills on a .272 success rate compared to 53 Cougars' kills on a .207 clip.  Pepperdine also edged out BYU at the net with 14.5 blocks to 12.0, though the opposition led 9-4 in aces and 45-34 in digs.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          21        2          33        .576
2          7          7          27        .000
3          12        7          34        .147
4          13        2          26        .423
5          5          3          16        .125
TTL      58        21        136      .272
 
BYU ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          14        2          27        .444
2          10        9          24        .042
3          12        6          28        .214
4          9          9          25        .000
5          8          2          17        .353
TTL      53        28        121      .207
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
It was a see-saw battle from the beginning with the two teams exchanging points through an even 10-apiece, courtesy of multiple Waves' kills from Cole Ketrzynski, Ryan Barnett, James Eadie and Akin Akinwumi.  Back-to-back smashes from the latter two Waves gave the squad a two-point advantage at the 14-12 mark, but the Cougars were able to tie the set once again two points later.  After going point-for-point en route to 18's, Ryan Graves found a good spot for an ace and Akinwumi and Martin de Chavarria laid down a pair of consecutive smashes for the 21-19 lead.  BYU countered an pulled ahead by one through 23-22, but Pepperdine would refuse to let up.  A pair of Akinwumi smashes flipped the script and gave the home squad a 24-23 advantage and the position to close.  The opposition fended off one attempt, but Akinwumi and then Graves laid down a pair of smashes to close the set, 26-24.
 
The second set began with the Waves in favor as another two Barnett kills opened things up, followed by a block collaboration from de Chavarria and Ketrzynski.  The same duo denied another attack attempt from across the net and Pepperdine capitalized on an attack error to pull ahead by four, 5-1.  The lead extended to a 7-3 advantage with more errors from across the net, but the Cougars were able to get back into the set and tie things up with a 4-0 run.  After 10's once again, the Waves started to pull away with a kill from Ketrzynski and a solo rejection from de Chavarria, but the opposition eventually tied the set at 16-all.  After kills from Akinwumi and Eadie helped the Waves stay toe-to-toe with the Cougars en route to 19-19, the opposition started to pull away and eventually took a 25-19 set win to tie the overall.
 
BYU started with a 5-2 run to open the third set, eventually leading 10-7 before Pepperdine started to rally.  A kill from Ketrzynski and a Ketrzynski, Graves, Eadie block connection tied the set at 10-apiece and the Waves used that momentum, along with another Akinwumi, de Chavarria block collaboration to then take a 14-12 lead.  More smashes from Barnett and Akinwumi forced a Cougars' timeout right before the 17-13 mark.  A flurry of aces from BYU tied the set and gave them the advantage 18-17, but an ace from Pepperdine's Alex Mrkalj kept the home team in play.  The two teams exchanged points once again to a 21-21 tied score, but the Cougars were able to gain some traction and win the set 25-22 for a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.
 
The fourth set was starting to look similar to the first with both sides in a see-saw bout en route to 6's.  Graves and Andersen Fuller connected at the net for a block and an attack error from across the net helped Pepperdine lead by two, 8-6.  Mrkalj went back-to-back on the smash front and the Waves eventually led by four, 11-7, forcing another Cougars' timeout.  Mrkalj found the floor on another and Akinwumi followed suit with a pair of smashes for the home squad to lead 14-9.  Pepperdine would hold on to that lead the rest of the set, extending to 17-12 with a block from Fuller and Ketrzynski.  Another trio of consecutive blocks from the same pair pushed Pepperdine to a six-point advantage at the 20-14 mark.  Mrkalj laid down a few smashes to extend the lead to seven and though the opposition brought things within four, 23-19, a pair of service errors and an over-on-two kill from Graves shut the set down 25-20 and forced the fifth.
 
Akinwumi laid down a pair of kills to open the final set with a 3-2 Waves' lead, but the advantage would be short-lived.  The Cougars answered with a string of kills and a triple block for a two-point lead of their own, 5-3.  After BYU led 8-5, a kill from Mrkalj, a block from Mrkalj and Fuller and an ace from Ketrzynski put Pepperdine on a 3-0 run to tie things up and force a Cougars' timeout.  Out of the break, BYU was able to answer with a three-point run as well, 11-8.  With that run, the energy had shifted to the opposition's side of the court and BYU eventually worked to a 15-12 set win to clinch the overall victory.
 
UP NEXT
Tomorrow, the Waves and Cougars will face once again in Firestone Fieldhouse.  First serve is slated for 5 p.m. and Pepperdine's eight seniors will be honored prior to the match.
 
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