Thursday, April 24
Malibu, Calif.
5:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
vs
Grand Canyon
Photo by: Jeff Golden
#8 Men's Volleyball Brings MPSF Tournament to Malibu
4/23/2025 12:44:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's volleyball team begins its MPSF Tournament campaign this week as the fourth seed, set to take on the winner of fifth-seed GCU and eighth-seed Concordia University Irvine Thursday evening at 5 p.m. Pepperdine is also playing the host for the tournament, as all eight contests will be played in Firestone Fieldhouse.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: The week's schedule, watch links, live stats and maps can all be found at the tournament central site- http://pepperdinewaves.com/mpsf.
TICKETS – Entry is free for all students, faculty and staff with a valid Pepperdine ID. All other patrons may find ticket information listed here.
COVERAGE – All MPSF Tournament matches will be streamed on B1G+ with the exception of the championship match, which will be streamed linear on BTN.
LAST TIME OUT — Pepperdine men's volleyball wrapped up its regular season with two hard-fought road losses at BYU. In Friday's five-set thriller, the Waves hit .339 as a team and delivered nine aces, with standout performances from Ryan Barnett (17 kills, 4 aces), Matt Mazur (16 kills), and Cole Hartke (15 kills, 3 aces), while Gabe Dyer tallied 52 assists. Pepperdine responded to a rough third set by hitting .524 in the fourth to force a decisive fifth, but came up short, 15-12. On Saturday, the Waves fell in four sets despite taking the third frame. Barnett led with 13 kills, followed by Hartke (12 kills, 2 aces) and Mazur (10 kills, 2 aces), with Dyer adding 37 assists. Pepperdine finished the regular season 17-9 overall and 7-5 in MPSF play, heading into the conference tournament.
OPPS — With eighth-seeded Concordia University Irvine's defeat of ninth-seeded Vanguard, the Golden Eagles have advanced to contest fifth-seeded GCU. Pepperdine will play the winner of that match in Thursday's third round. The Waves did not play CUI this season, but the Eagles finished 2025 at 10-18 overall and 3-9 in MPSF play. Pepperdine defeated GCU in both matches this season in Phoenix (3-1, 3-1).
POTENTIAL OPPS — Should the Waves win on Thursday, they will take on top-seeded UCLA Friday at 5 p.m. Pepperdine fell in both contests to the Bruins earlier this season (0-3, 1-3).
FOTY — Freshman opposite Cole Hartke enters the MPSF Championship Tournament ranked third in the conference with 3.74 kills per set while hitting .342, and is second with 4.46 points per set. He also served 36 aces in the regular season to rank fifth in the conference. Hartke produced double-digit kills in 18 regular season matches, including in all 12 of MPSF competition. He had a 24-kill outing, just two kills off the MPSF season-high, with a .475 clip against Loyola-Chicago (Jan. 30). He was named MPSF/Molten Offensive Player of the Week twice this year (Apr. 7, Mar. 3), following a 36-kill and 33-kill MPSF series vs. Grand Canyon and USC, respectively. Hartke, the only freshman named to this year's All-MPSF first team, is Pepperdine's fifth MPSF Freshman of the Year recipient (Ethan Watson, 2024; Jonathan Winder, 2005; Sean Rooney, 2002; Scott Wong, 1998).
ALL-MPSF SELECTIONS — Ryan Barnett, Jacob Reilly and Gabe Dyer also earned All-MPSF honors, landing on the first team, second team and honorable mention lists, respectively. Barnett ranks among the league's top hitters and servers, sitting third in aces (43), eighth in hitting percentage (.341), and tied for sixth in kills (315). Reilly leads the MPSF in reception efficiency and ranks sixth in digs (163), while Dyer is fourth in assists (884) and eighth in digs (160), also tallying multiple career-high performances this season.
STAY CONNECTED
Keep up with all things Pepperdine Athletics by following the Waves on X and Instagram and find more on PepperdineWaves.com.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: The week's schedule, watch links, live stats and maps can all be found at the tournament central site- http://pepperdinewaves.com/mpsf.
TICKETS – Entry is free for all students, faculty and staff with a valid Pepperdine ID. All other patrons may find ticket information listed here.
COVERAGE – All MPSF Tournament matches will be streamed on B1G+ with the exception of the championship match, which will be streamed linear on BTN.
LAST TIME OUT — Pepperdine men's volleyball wrapped up its regular season with two hard-fought road losses at BYU. In Friday's five-set thriller, the Waves hit .339 as a team and delivered nine aces, with standout performances from Ryan Barnett (17 kills, 4 aces), Matt Mazur (16 kills), and Cole Hartke (15 kills, 3 aces), while Gabe Dyer tallied 52 assists. Pepperdine responded to a rough third set by hitting .524 in the fourth to force a decisive fifth, but came up short, 15-12. On Saturday, the Waves fell in four sets despite taking the third frame. Barnett led with 13 kills, followed by Hartke (12 kills, 2 aces) and Mazur (10 kills, 2 aces), with Dyer adding 37 assists. Pepperdine finished the regular season 17-9 overall and 7-5 in MPSF play, heading into the conference tournament.
OPPS — With eighth-seeded Concordia University Irvine's defeat of ninth-seeded Vanguard, the Golden Eagles have advanced to contest fifth-seeded GCU. Pepperdine will play the winner of that match in Thursday's third round. The Waves did not play CUI this season, but the Eagles finished 2025 at 10-18 overall and 3-9 in MPSF play. Pepperdine defeated GCU in both matches this season in Phoenix (3-1, 3-1).
POTENTIAL OPPS — Should the Waves win on Thursday, they will take on top-seeded UCLA Friday at 5 p.m. Pepperdine fell in both contests to the Bruins earlier this season (0-3, 1-3).
FOTY — Freshman opposite Cole Hartke enters the MPSF Championship Tournament ranked third in the conference with 3.74 kills per set while hitting .342, and is second with 4.46 points per set. He also served 36 aces in the regular season to rank fifth in the conference. Hartke produced double-digit kills in 18 regular season matches, including in all 12 of MPSF competition. He had a 24-kill outing, just two kills off the MPSF season-high, with a .475 clip against Loyola-Chicago (Jan. 30). He was named MPSF/Molten Offensive Player of the Week twice this year (Apr. 7, Mar. 3), following a 36-kill and 33-kill MPSF series vs. Grand Canyon and USC, respectively. Hartke, the only freshman named to this year's All-MPSF first team, is Pepperdine's fifth MPSF Freshman of the Year recipient (Ethan Watson, 2024; Jonathan Winder, 2005; Sean Rooney, 2002; Scott Wong, 1998).
ALL-MPSF SELECTIONS — Ryan Barnett, Jacob Reilly and Gabe Dyer also earned All-MPSF honors, landing on the first team, second team and honorable mention lists, respectively. Barnett ranks among the league's top hitters and servers, sitting third in aces (43), eighth in hitting percentage (.341), and tied for sixth in kills (315). Reilly leads the MPSF in reception efficiency and ranks sixth in digs (163), while Dyer is fourth in assists (884) and eighth in digs (160), also tallying multiple career-high performances this season.
STAY CONNECTED
Keep up with all things Pepperdine Athletics by following the Waves on X and Instagram and find more on PepperdineWaves.com.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
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