Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team buckled down at the Galen Center on Saturday night, taking care of business against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opponent #11 USC.
 
After splitting the first two sets 25-15, 20-25, the Waves (17-7, 5-5 MPSF) battled out a 27-25 set win to pull ahead against the Trojans (11-11, 2-6 MPSF).  Pepperdine ended the game shortly after with a 25-19 final set.
 
BIG WAVES
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 16 kills, .464 hitting %, 6 digs, 1 block
Ethan Watson (Sunnyvale, Calif.): 5 blocks, 7 kills
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 12 digs
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 18 kills, .400 hitting %, 4 blocks (1 solo), 3 digs
Ryan Graves (Irvine, Calif.): 50 assists, 3 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Alex Mrkalj (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada): 9 kills .562 hitting %, 4 digs
 
WAVES VS. TROJANS
Pepperdine had a solid night on the attack front, amassing 60 kills on a .400 success rate, while giving up 49 kills on a .250 clip to USC across the net.  The opposition did lead with four aces and 8.5 digs to the Waves' one ace and 8.0 blocks, but Pepperdine was had a slight 34 to 33 edge on the back line.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          11        3          19        .421
2          12        5          26        .269
3          18        4          41        .341
4          19        2          29        .586
TTL      60        14        115      .400
 
USC ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          9          8          22        .045
2          15        4          29        .393
3          15        5          40        .250
4          10        4          22        .273
TTL      49        21        112      .250
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
USC gained some traction after the first few plays, pulling ahead by two early in the game, but a kill from Martin de Chavarria and a block collaboration from de Chavarria, Akin Akinwumi and Ryan Barnett tied things up quickly at 9's.  A flurry of attack errors from across the net, along with smashes from Barnett pushed Pepperdine to a six-point advantage, 16-10.  After that, it was all Waves moving forward, with an ace from Barnett and kills from Akinwumi and Cole Ketrzynski to make it 22-14.  More Trojans' errors would close aid in closing things up 25-15.
 
The second set would go USC's way, however, as an early start put them 8-3 ahead early.  It would be momentum the Waves would be unable to shake throughout the set, as the home team advanced the lead to 19-12.   Though kills from Ethan Watson and Akinwumi helped the cause and started to close the gap, USC took the 25-20 win to even the overall score.
 
After exchanging early points in the third set, kills from Akinwumi, Ketrzynski and Alex Mrkalj helped Pepperdine break free from the home team en route to an 11-6 advantage.  The Waves kept rolling with smashes from Ketrzynski and Ryan Graves to lead the Trojans by 17-12.  The two teams exchanged points shortly after and the Trojans started to close the gap, but more kills from Mrkalj and Ethan Watson kept Pepperdine ahead by three, 23-20.  USC was able to counter and tie the set, though the Waves reached set-point first on a service error from across the net.  The opposition fended off a pair of set-points, but a kill from Ketrzynski and an attack error from the Trojans would end the set 27-25 in favor of the Waves.
 
In the eventual final set, Pepperdine got off to a hot start with kills from Mrkalj and Watson.  A block from Watson and Akinwumi brought the Waves to a five-point, 7-2, advantage.  A trio of consecutive kills from Mrkalj – and four in five plays – kept the Waves moving forward en route to a 17-11 lead.  A triple block featuring Ketrzynski, Watson and Graves extended Pepperdine's lead and smashes from Mrkalj brought the squad close to a win, 23-19.  Akwinumi would find the floor to put the squad one away from match-point and Graves would send one over on two to end the match, 25-19.
 
UP NEXT
The Waves host The Master's on Friday in Malibu with first serve slated for 3 p.m.
 
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.