PROVO, Utah – The seventh-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball team fell in four sets to No. 8 BYU on Saturday night at Smith Fieldhouse, dropping the MPSF regular-season finale 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17.
The Waves moved to 17-9 overall and 7-5 in league play, while the Cougars now sit 19-9 and matched Pepperdine's conference mark with the win. The night marked another competitive matchup between the two top-10 programs, with 14 tied scores and three lead changes across four sets.
BIG WAVES
- Ryan Barnett (R-Jr./Westhampton Beach, N.Y./St. Edward's): 13 kills, .296 hitting %, 34 receptions
- Cole Hartke (Fr./Barrington, Ill./Barrington HS): 12 kills, .241 hitting %, 3 digs, 2 aces, 5 blocks
- Matt Mazur (R-Fr./Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster HS): 10 kills, .261 hitting %, 2 aces, 3 digs, 3 blocks
- Gabe Dyer (Gr./San Clemente, Calif./UCSD): 37 assists, 3 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
- Jacob Reilly (Jr./Cyprus, Texas/CUI): 9 digs, 20 receptions
WAVES VS. COUGS
Pepperdine
| Set |
K |
E |
TA |
Pct |
| 1 |
11 |
6 |
22 |
.227 |
| 2 |
7 |
2 |
14 |
.357 |
| 3 |
15 |
5 |
34 |
.294 |
| 4 |
8 |
4 |
26 |
.154 |
BYU
| Set |
K |
E |
TA |
Pct |
| 1 |
14 |
1 |
21 |
.619 |
| 2 |
15 |
4 |
26 |
.423 |
| 3 |
13 |
5 |
28 |
.286 |
| 4 |
14 |
5 |
26 |
.346 |
PLAY-BY-PLAY
BYU struck early with an efficient .619 hitting clip in the opening set, while Pepperdine's offense was held to just .227. Despite kills from Barnett and Hartke, the Cougars kept control to win 25-19.
In the second, the Waves were unable to build momentum as BYU continued to serve tough and capitalize in transition. Service aces and a balanced Cougar attack helped the home team take a 2-0 lead with a 25-20 set win.
Pepperdine responded in the third, rallying behind its most balanced effort of the night. Hartke tallied four kills and Mazur added three as the Waves hit .294 to narrowly edge BYU 25-23 and extend the match.
The Cougars quickly regrouped in set four, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back. Pepperdine struggled to find rhythm offensively, hitting just .154, while BYU pulled away to seal the match 25-17.
The Waves finished with a .243 team hitting percentage and six service aces. Barnett, Hartke, and Mazur combined for 43 of Pepperdine's 55 kills, while Dyer paced the attack with 56 assists. Defensively, the Waves notched nine blocks and 40 digs in front of a crowd of 3,596 in Provo.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine awaits final word on MPSF Tournament seeding to be announced Sunday.
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