MALIBU, Calif. – In the final regular season match to be played in Firestone Fieldhouse this season, the #8 Pepperdine men's volleyball team was stunned by The Master's – the top-ranked NAIA team in the country – with a five-set loss on Friday afternoon. 
 
The Waves (17-8) collected on a pair of 25-22, 25-23 set wins to open the match, though the Mustangs (18-2) battled through 34-32 and 26-24 set wins to force a fifth.  Though the teams traded points throughout the fifth, the opposition broke away in the middle en route to a 15-12 win to clinch the match.
 
Three Waves hit for double-figures, led by Cole Ketrzynski with 23 kills – one shy of his season-high.  He has hit for double-digits in 20 of the Waves' 25 matches this season and led the squad in 14 of them.  Akin Akinwumi and Alex Mrkalj also achieved the feat with 13 and 10 kills respectively, while Mrkalj added a tied team-high six blocks alongside Martin de Chavarria. 
 
Ryan Graves amassed the third double-double of his career with a career-high 53 assists, along with 11 digs.  Trey Cole led the Waves' back line for the 16^th time this season, posting a team-best 14 digs, while adding a tied career-high six assists.
 
BIG WAVES
Cole Ketrzynski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada): 23 kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Akin Akinwumi (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.): 13 kills, 4 digs, 1 ace
Ryan Graves (Irvine, Calif.): 53 assists, 11 digs, 1 block, 1 ace
Alex Mrkalj (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada): 10 kills, 6 blocks, 6 digs, 2 aces
Ethan Watson (Sunnyvale, Calif.): 9 kills, .562 hitting %, 4 blocks
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 14 digs, 6 assists
Ryan Barnett (Long Island, N.Y.): 6 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 6 blocks, 5 kills
Brendan Read (Newport Beach, Calif.): 3 aces
 
WAVES VS. MUSTANGS
Pepperdine accumulated more kills in this match than any other this season with 66 on a .244 success rate, while giving up 59 kills on a .285 clip to Master's.  Each side of the net put in a big blocking effort with the Waves tagging the slight edge 12.5 to 12.0, though the opposition led with 57 digs to the home team's 52.  Pepperdine also was stronger at the service line with nine aces to TMU's five, though the Waves also led 27 to 23 in service errors.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          12        6          29        .207
2          15        3          28        .429
3          17        7          45        .222
4          15        5          37        .270
5          7          6          21        .048
TTL      66        27        160      .244
 
THE MASTER'S ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          9          3          21        .286
2          12        2          26        .385
3          20        5          43        .349
4          12        7          28        .179
5          6          3          19        .158
TTL      59        20        137      .285
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
An Alex Mrkalj kill and ace combo got things started for Pepperdine and though the opposition countered and took a four-point lead, the home team would battle back to tie the set at 8's.  After exchanging a few points, another kill from Mrkalj and a smash from Martin de Chavarria got things back on track.  Akin Akinwumi got in on the offensive action and de Chavarria followed up with an ace to force a Master's timeout, 13-10.  Mrkalj and Ethan Watson connected on a block collaboration out of the break and an ace from Brendan Read extended Pepperdine's lead to five, 18-13.  The two teams traded kills shortly after, but a kill from Akinwumi and a service error from across the net put the Waves in a position to close the set, 24-21.  Though The Master's battled one off, a kill from Cole Ketrzynski would end things 25-22.
 
The second set would prove to be close throughout, though more smashes from Akinwumi and Ketrzynski would give the Waves a slight edge early.  Watson and Mrkalj connected on another block effort and Watson laid down a pair of near-consecutive smashes to help the Waves stay neck-and-neck with the Mustangs, 8-8.  Akinwumi found a good spot for an ace and Ketrzynski laid down a pair of kills to continue to 16-all.  The two teams traded service errors, but an ace from Read and kill from Ketrzynski pushed the Waves ahead by two.  The Mustangs were able to counter and keep things tied to 22-22 on the board, however.  Watson and Mrkalj put down a pair of consecutive smashes, with a Master's timeout in between, to help Pepperdine to a two-point lead, 24-22.  The opposition fended one off, but Akinwumi obliterated a final smash to end the set 25-23.
 
Pepperdine got off to a hot start in the third set, with kills from Akinwumi and Watson and a few attack errors from across the net, 5-2.  The two teams continued to trade points en route to a 9-9 tied score before a kill from Mrkalj and ace from Ketrzynski had the Waves ahead by one.  The set stayed close with 11-11 and 15-15 tied scores throughout, though the Mustangs eventually pulled ahead by two, 19-17.  After a TMU service error brought Pepperdine within one, the Waves capitalized on another attack error from across the net to tie the score.  After Read entered the game and posted his third ace of the night to put the home team back on top, the opposition took a timeout, 20-19.  Another Malibu Roofing Company job led by Mrkalj and Watson and a monster smash from Akinwumi put the Waves ahead, 22-20. 
 
The Master's battled back to tie the set at 22's and the two teams exchanged points again to 24-apiece.  Kills from both sides of the net littered the play-by-play, with Pepperdine fending off seven set-point opportunities and The Master's denying two match-point options, as the two teams exchanged points to 32-32.  A kill and block from the opposition would end the set 34-32 and force a fourth.
 
The fourth set would be exciting as well with the waves taking a 10-7 lead early with kills from Mrkalj, Ryan Barnett and Ketrzynski helping the cause.  A Barnett, de Chavarria block collaboration and smashes from Barnett and Mrkalj continued Pepperdine on to a 15-12 lead.  The opposition slowly countered to tie the score at 18's and eventually worked ahead 22-19.  A solo block from Mrkalj and kill from Ketrzynski kept the Waves afloat and another pair of consecutive smashes from Watson and Mrkalj tied the set at 23's.  The two teams traded service errors to 24's, but another service error from the Waves gave the opposition set-point.  A kill from across the net would force a fifth.
 
Kills from Watson and Ketrzynski started off the fifth set, but the Mustangs went on a four-point run to pull ahead by three, 6-3.  Mrkalj found a good spot for an ace before connecting with de Chavarria and Barnett on a block collaboration to bring the score within one, 6-5.  Costly errors aided the opposition's efforts to four more unanswered points.  Despite an attempt to close the gap including a solo block from Watson and ace from Mrkalj, The Master's would pull off the reverse sweep upset, 15-12.
 
UP NEXT
Next week, the Waves travel to Phoenix, Ariz. to challenge #3 Grand Canyon.  The two road bouts on April 11 and 12 will be the final two regular season matches for the Waves.
 
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.