PROVO, Utah – In a dramatic five-set battle at Smith Fieldhouse, the seventh-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball team dropped its first match of the weekend to No. 8 BYU Friday night at 3-2.
 
The Waves move to 17-8 overall and 7-4 in MPSF play, while the Cougars improved to 18-9 and 6-5. The match featured 33 tied scores and seven lead changes in a back-and-forth showcase between the top-10 programs.
 
BIG WAVES

• Ryan Barnett (R-Jr./Westhampton Beach, N.Y./St. Edward's): 17 kills, .314 hitting %, 2 blocks, 4 digs, 4 aces
• Cole Hartke (Fr./Barrington, Ill./Barrington HS): 15 kills, .333 hitting %, 2 blocks, 3 digs, 3 aces
• Matt Mazur (R-Fr./Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster HS): 16 kills, .313 hitting %, 3 blocks, 1 ace
• Gabe Dyer (Gr./San Clemente, Calif./UCSD): 52 assists, 8 digs

 
WAVES VS. COUGS
Pepperdine
Set      K          E          TA        %
1          14        6          32        0.25
2          15        3          26        0.462
3          10        5          24        0.208
4          13        2          21        0.524
5          8          3          18        0.278
T          60        19        121      0.339
 
BYU
Set      K          E          TA        %
1          13        2          26        0.423
2          18        4          31        0.452
3          16        1          24        0.625
4          7          5          16        0.125
5          8          2          15        0.4
T          62        14        112      0.429
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
BYU opened the match strong with a 25-21 first-set win behind a .423 hitting percentage, but Pepperdine showed resilience in the second. The Waves hit .462 in the frame, led by three kills each from Ryan Barnett and Matt Mazur, while Cole Hartke added a pair of kills and an ace. A balanced attack and timely defense helped Pepperdine take the set 28-26 to even the match.
 
The Cougars responded with a dominant third set, hitting .625 and limiting Pepperdine to just .208 to take a 2-1 lead. The Waves bounced back with their most efficient offensive performance of the night in set four, swinging .524 with just two attack errors. Hartke, Mazur, and Ethan Watson combined for nine kills in the set, and Gabe Dyer directed the offense to a 25-17 win to push the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
In the final frame, BYU jumped out early capitalizing on Waves errors but Pepperdine caught up with the Cougs what seemed like every couple of points. The Waves tied the set at 10-all before BYU strung three different runs together to finish 15-12.
 
The Waves finished with a .339 hitting percentage and recorded nine service aces—four from Barnett and three from Hartke. Barnett led all Waves with 17 kills, while Hartke added 15 and Mazur chipped in 16. Watson was a key contributor with seven kills on .500 hitting, and Whidden was efficient as well, going 5-for-6 without an error. Dyer tallied 52 assists and eight digs to pace the offense, and the Waves added 12 team blocks in a hard-fought road battle.
 
UP NEXT
The Waves take on BYU once again Saturday evening, set for a 6:00 p.m. PT first serve.
 
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