Thursday, April 11
Phoenix, Ariz.
6:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
at
Grand Canyon
Photo by: Morgan Davenport
#9 Pepperdine to Challenge #3 GCU
4/9/2024 7:39:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. – The #9 Pepperdine men's volleyball team faces the final two regular season matches of the season this week, both against #3 Grand Canyon on the road.
MATCH #26 — Thursday (April 11) at Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.: #9 Pepperdine (17-8, 5-5 MPSF) vs. #3 Grand Canyon (20-2, 8-2 MPSF) at 6 p.m. PT | ESPN+
MATCH #27 — Friday (April 12) at Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.: #9 Pepperdine (17-8, 5-5 MPSF) vs. #3 Grand Canyon (20-2, 8-2 MPSF) at 6 p.m. PT | ESPN+
COVERAGE — The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and have live statistics available. Links can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
UP NEXT — Next week, the postseason push begins with the MPSF Championships at USC's Galen Center in Los Angeles from April 17-20.
FOLLOW — Follow the Waves on Facebook and X, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram and TikTok, @peppmvb. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.
LAST WEEK — The Waves had an early two-set lead over The Master's last Friday, but the Mustangs would rally and edge out the Waves by the end. The final set scores were 25-22, 25-23, 32-34, 24-26 and 12-15. Pepperdine posted more kills than any other match this season after amassing 66 on a .244 clip, giving up 59 kills on a .285 output to the opposition. The Waves also picked up nine aces, 52 digs and 12.5 blocks, while the Mustangs accrued five aces, 57 digs and 12.0 blocks.
Cole Ketrzynski led the Waves with 23 kills, his third match this season above the 20-kill mark. Akin Akinwumi and Alex Mrkalj also hit for double-figures with 13 and 10 kills respectively. Trey Cole led the back line with 14 digs, while Martin de Chavarria and Mrkalj led the Waves with six blocks. Ryan Graves also posted his third double-double of the season, having totaled 53 assists and 11 digs.
SQUAD — The Waves have gone 17-8 to start this season and have won nine of those matches in straight sets. As a team, Pepperdine produces 12.54 kills on a .315 clip, while adding 11.84 assists, 1.30 aces, 8.89 digs, and 2.43 blocks. The squad gives up only 10.88 kills on a .231 output on average, along with 1.13 aces, 8.34 digs, and 2.16 blocks.
Cole Ketrzynski leads the attack output for the Waves with 3.68 kills/set and 313 total kills. Akin Akinwumi is second on the team with 2.64 kills/set and 193 total smashes. Ryan Barnett has also put in a solid presence on the attack front with 2.42 kills/set and 179 kills.
Ethan Watson and Martin de Chavarria lead the squad at the net with 1.37 and 1.14 blocks/set respectively. De Chavarria has produced 99 blocks, with 11 solo rejections in 87 sets, while Watson has amassed 70 blocks with 11 solo jobs in 51 sets played. Ketrzynski also leads the team with 22 aces and 0.26 aces/set so far this season, while five other Waves have reached double-figures in aces - Mrkalj (16), Barnett (14), Akinwumi (11) Rasic (10) and Read (10).
Trey Cole has marked a team-best 2.23 digs/set, tallying 203 digs this season. Ryan Graves and Tyler Stewart have seen the most time in playmaking duties, having put up 8.49 and 8.04 assists/set respectively.
MPSF WEEKLY NOD — Four times this season, a Pepperdine player has earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation weekly honors. Trey Cole tabbed the defensive nod most recently. Along with Cole's honor, Martin de Chavarria has earned defensive acclaim, while Ryan Barnett and Ryan Graves have garnered offensive honors.
OPPONENTS — Grand Canyon has gone 20-4 overall and 8-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation so far this season, good to rank #3 in the AVCA national coaches poll. The Lopes had been undefeated in league action up until facing #2 UCLA twice last week, falling once in straight sets and again in five the following night. All-time, Pepperdine leads GCU 9-5, dating back to 2010 when the two teams first met and the Waves took home a straight-set win. Last season, Pepperdine split against GCU during the regular season in a pair of five-set matches, though the Lopes ended the Waves' season with a sweep in the first round of the MPSF tournament.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked #9 in the AVCA national poll this week. The Waves began the season at #13 and have steadily worked ahead in the poll while playing against the nation's toughest programs. Before this week, Pepperdine was ranked #8 for the last three-consecutive weeks.
In addition to the team ranking, the Waves have been making quite the splash on the team and individual stat rankings in this early season. The Waves rank first in the MPSF in opponent hitting percentage (.231) and attacks/set (27.02) and second in digs/set (8.89), while ranking in the top five in all nine categories available. The squad is also top-10 nationally in three categories, including eighth in assists/set (11.84) and ninth in hitting percentage (.315) and blocks per set (2.43).
Martin de Chavarria is third in the MPSF and ranks sixth nationally with 1.14 blocks. Trey Cole also leads the league and ranks 9th nationally with 2.23 digs. Cole Ketrzynski ranks nationally in six separate categories, including 15th in kills (3.68), 18th in points (4.30), 19th in attacks (8.07) and 32nd in hitting percentage (.310) - all categories, but one, he ranks in the top five in the league in as well.
MATCH #26 — Thursday (April 11) at Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.: #9 Pepperdine (17-8, 5-5 MPSF) vs. #3 Grand Canyon (20-2, 8-2 MPSF) at 6 p.m. PT | ESPN+
MATCH #27 — Friday (April 12) at Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.: #9 Pepperdine (17-8, 5-5 MPSF) vs. #3 Grand Canyon (20-2, 8-2 MPSF) at 6 p.m. PT | ESPN+
COVERAGE — The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and have live statistics available. Links can be found at PepperdineWaves.com.
UP NEXT — Next week, the postseason push begins with the MPSF Championships at USC's Galen Center in Los Angeles from April 17-20.
FOLLOW — Follow the Waves on Facebook and X, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram and TikTok, @peppmvb. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.
LAST WEEK — The Waves had an early two-set lead over The Master's last Friday, but the Mustangs would rally and edge out the Waves by the end. The final set scores were 25-22, 25-23, 32-34, 24-26 and 12-15. Pepperdine posted more kills than any other match this season after amassing 66 on a .244 clip, giving up 59 kills on a .285 output to the opposition. The Waves also picked up nine aces, 52 digs and 12.5 blocks, while the Mustangs accrued five aces, 57 digs and 12.0 blocks.
Cole Ketrzynski led the Waves with 23 kills, his third match this season above the 20-kill mark. Akin Akinwumi and Alex Mrkalj also hit for double-figures with 13 and 10 kills respectively. Trey Cole led the back line with 14 digs, while Martin de Chavarria and Mrkalj led the Waves with six blocks. Ryan Graves also posted his third double-double of the season, having totaled 53 assists and 11 digs.
SQUAD — The Waves have gone 17-8 to start this season and have won nine of those matches in straight sets. As a team, Pepperdine produces 12.54 kills on a .315 clip, while adding 11.84 assists, 1.30 aces, 8.89 digs, and 2.43 blocks. The squad gives up only 10.88 kills on a .231 output on average, along with 1.13 aces, 8.34 digs, and 2.16 blocks.
Cole Ketrzynski leads the attack output for the Waves with 3.68 kills/set and 313 total kills. Akin Akinwumi is second on the team with 2.64 kills/set and 193 total smashes. Ryan Barnett has also put in a solid presence on the attack front with 2.42 kills/set and 179 kills.
Ethan Watson and Martin de Chavarria lead the squad at the net with 1.37 and 1.14 blocks/set respectively. De Chavarria has produced 99 blocks, with 11 solo rejections in 87 sets, while Watson has amassed 70 blocks with 11 solo jobs in 51 sets played. Ketrzynski also leads the team with 22 aces and 0.26 aces/set so far this season, while five other Waves have reached double-figures in aces - Mrkalj (16), Barnett (14), Akinwumi (11) Rasic (10) and Read (10).
Trey Cole has marked a team-best 2.23 digs/set, tallying 203 digs this season. Ryan Graves and Tyler Stewart have seen the most time in playmaking duties, having put up 8.49 and 8.04 assists/set respectively.
MPSF WEEKLY NOD — Four times this season, a Pepperdine player has earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation weekly honors. Trey Cole tabbed the defensive nod most recently. Along with Cole's honor, Martin de Chavarria has earned defensive acclaim, while Ryan Barnett and Ryan Graves have garnered offensive honors.
OPPONENTS — Grand Canyon has gone 20-4 overall and 8-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation so far this season, good to rank #3 in the AVCA national coaches poll. The Lopes had been undefeated in league action up until facing #2 UCLA twice last week, falling once in straight sets and again in five the following night. All-time, Pepperdine leads GCU 9-5, dating back to 2010 when the two teams first met and the Waves took home a straight-set win. Last season, Pepperdine split against GCU during the regular season in a pair of five-set matches, though the Lopes ended the Waves' season with a sweep in the first round of the MPSF tournament.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked #9 in the AVCA national poll this week. The Waves began the season at #13 and have steadily worked ahead in the poll while playing against the nation's toughest programs. Before this week, Pepperdine was ranked #8 for the last three-consecutive weeks.
In addition to the team ranking, the Waves have been making quite the splash on the team and individual stat rankings in this early season. The Waves rank first in the MPSF in opponent hitting percentage (.231) and attacks/set (27.02) and second in digs/set (8.89), while ranking in the top five in all nine categories available. The squad is also top-10 nationally in three categories, including eighth in assists/set (11.84) and ninth in hitting percentage (.315) and blocks per set (2.43).
Martin de Chavarria is third in the MPSF and ranks sixth nationally with 1.14 blocks. Trey Cole also leads the league and ranks 9th nationally with 2.23 digs. Cole Ketrzynski ranks nationally in six separate categories, including 15th in kills (3.68), 18th in points (4.30), 19th in attacks (8.07) and 32nd in hitting percentage (.310) - all categories, but one, he ranks in the top five in the league in as well.
Players Mentioned
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