Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The #5-seeded Pepperdine men's volleyball team fell in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal match to #4-seeded Stanford at USC's Galen Center on Wednesday night.
 
#7-ranked Stanford (14-11) had the edge early in the match against #9-ranked Pepperdine, picking up 25-22, 25-17 and 25-19 set scores to send the Waves out of the league tournament.
 
Akin Akinwumi led the Waves with 15 kills on a .364 success rate, hitting for double-figure kills for the ninth time this season and 15^th time in his career.
 
BIG WAVES
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 15 kills, .364 hitting %, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 6 kills, 4 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif.): 5 kills, 6 digs
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 3 blocks
Tyler Stewart (Broomfield, Colo.): 22 assists, 5 digs
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 4 digs
Ryan Graves (Irvine, Calif.): 5 assists, 2 digs
 
WAVES VS. CARDINAL
Stanford led the attack with 40 kills on a .314 clip, while Pepperdine produced 29 kills on a .162 block output.  Each side of the net accrued six blocks, but the Cardinal led 5-2 in aces.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          15        4          30        .367
2          8          8          31        .000
3          6          4          18        .111
TTL      29        16        80        .162
 
STANFORD ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          16        4          29        .414
2          10        5          28        .179
3          14        4          29        .345
TTL      40        13        86        .314
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
A quick pair of kills from Cole Ketrzynski started the Waves off to a see-saw battle against the Cardinal.  A flurry of points from the opposition had Stanford ahead 9-5, but a duo of smashes from Akin Akinwumi and a solo block from Ketrzynski evened the score at 11's.  The opposition pulled ahead by two again, but an ace from Ketrzynski and block collaboration from Ethan Watson and Akinwumi knotted things up once again at 22's.  After trading points shortly after, the Cardinal picked up a late advantage and used it for a 25-22 first set win to pull ahead.
 
After starting the second set with an 8-2 run, Stanford had the early edge.  Though big kills from Cole Rasic and Ketrzysnki helped the cause, the opposition led 21-10 down the stretch.  Martin de Chavarria picked up a solo block and Akinwumi found a good spot for an ace, but the Cardinal ended the set 25-17 to pull ahead 2-0 overall.
 
Another 5-2 run opened the set for the opposition and though a pair of kills from Akinwumi kept the Waves in fighting form, the Cardinal continued on to a 13-7 advantage.  Alex Mrkalj and Akinwumi went back-to-back on the kill front and Mrkalj and Watson connected with a block at the net to pull within three, 14-11.  A 3-0 run for Stanford hurt Pepperdine's momentum en route to a 21-14 deficit.  A late surge with a block from Rasic, de Chavarria and Ryan Graves kept the Waves moving forward, but the Cardinal ended things with a 25-19 set score to complete the sweep.
 
NCAA SELECTION SHOW
The NCAA tournament selections will be released on NCAA.com on Sunday, April 21.
 
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.