MALIBU, Calif. – The No. 6 Pepperdine men's volleyball team (5-2) swept No. 16 California State, Northridge (7-3) Thursday night on the road in convincing fashion.
"We played well in all phases of the game tonight," head coach
Jonathan Winder said. "The guys did a really good job on our scouting report, plus had some key plays from Zach and Aidan serving in the first set to get a big spark. Plus Jose, Ryan and Jacob did a wonderful job passing tonight. They have been working hard all week to improve in that space. Really happy with the way the whole group worked tonight."
Winder also made sure to note his team was one of two to pick up ranked sweeps today after the No. 24 men's tennis team defeated No. 4 Stanford 4-0.
"Equally stoked for our men's tennis team's big win!!" Winder said.
In the closest of the three sets, the Waves took the first 25-22.
Cole Hartke had over half the squad's kills, accounting for seven of the 13 in the first stretch. Neck-and-neck for the duration,
Aidan Tune tied it up at 18-all before Hartke and
Zach Chapin closed it serving for the Waves as
James Eadie got the final kill in the closely contested first match.
Taking set two 25-18, Pepperdine spread the offense with three Waves contributing four or more points. Hartke led the set with six, followed closely by Polomac who had three of the team's four aces through the second set to contribute 4.5 points himself. With a night-low nine kills, Matadors committed a team-high eight errors in the set to keep Pepperdine in the lead after being tied at 10-all.
Andrej Polomac had the pivotal five-point stretch behind the service line, including an ace, to put the Waves up six before the team closed out the 25-18 win.
Closing the match out with vindication, Pepperdine took the third and final set 25-10.
Jose Gomez led the squad with five points, including an ace. Tying the first set for kills, the Waves ended the night with 13 kills and just one error, hitting .706. Trailing 4-5 early, Pepperdine went on a tear as Polomax served on a six-point stretch before Gomez served for four followed by Eadie, serving for four of his own, opening the stretch up with an ace. Hartke had a hand in all the team's blocks in the set, assisting on all three. Completing the sweep, Pepperdine defeated CSUN 25-10 to end the night.
PEPPERDINE VS. CSUN
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 13 3 18 .556
2 9 4 20 .250
3 13 1 17 .706
CSUN ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 12 2 19 .526
2 10 8 25 .080
3 7 6 20 .050
Back home Tuesday, the Waves host Vanguard in the midweek matchup. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. with streaming available on B1G+ (subscription required) and live stats available at
www.pepperdinewaves.com
GAME NOTES
•
Cole Hartke exceeded his nation-leading average of 5.5 points per set, contributing 18.5 tonight.
•
Andrej Polomac served a team-high three aces.
• Hartke hit .667 on 14 kills.
• Polomac had just one error on 28 assists tonight, contributing all but four of the team's assists.
•
Ethan Watson assisted on five blocks, the most of the Waves tonight.
•
Ryan Barnett had eight kills, hitting .375.
•
Jose Gomez and
Ethan Watson got their first starts of the year.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Pepperdine men's volleyball boasts one of the richest histories in collegiate volleyball, with five NCAA National Championships. Four of those championships came under the direction of Hall of Fame coach
Marv Dunphy who totaled 612 victories in 34 seasons at the helm. With 19 NCAA Appearances and 63 All-Americans, the program has consistently been a destination for top talent across the country. Under current head coach
Jonathan Winder, the Waves reached the NCAA Final Four in his third season at the helm in 2025.
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