Malibu, Calif. –  The Pepperdine men's volleyball team (5-2) will open up MPSF play against the Vanguard Lions (3-6) in the first ever matchup between the two teams Tuesday night in Firestone.
 
LAST TIME OUT
•Pepperdine convincingly swept No. 16 CSUN on the road Thursday night.
• Cole Hartke led the Waves, accounting for 18.5 of the 75 total points with a .667 hitting percentage. 
• Ethan Watson, in his first start this season for Pepperdine, had a team-leading five blocks.
 
 
GAME NOTES
• Pepperdine was projected to finish second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, coming in behind UCLA.
• The Waves tied for second with USC, receiving four first place votes with the Trojans receiving just two.
• This season marks the 56th and final season with Firestone Fieldhouse as the home for Pepperdine Men's Volleyball
• Pepperdine will move into the Mountain at Mullin Park for the 2026-27 season.
• The Mountain is a new 3,600-seat arena that will give Pepperdine a state-of-the-art competition venue, complete with a 360-degree high-definition scoreboard, VIP and hospitality spaces, and custom team locker rooms.
• Owning 5 NCAA titles and 18 MPSF titles, with the most recent being earned last year, the Waves are no stranger to what it takes to put together a championship-level team.
• With one of the toughest schedules in the NCAA, Pepperdine is setting the season up for success with a NCAA quarterfinal rematch against Loyola Chicago, a semifinal rematch with Long Beach State and a trip to the islands, taking on No. 2 Hawai'i in March.
• Opening No. 4 in the AVCA preseason poll, the Waves are only behind LBSU, Hawai'i, and conference-foe UCLA.
• Ryan Barnett, James Eadie, Cole Hartke, and Jacob Reilly all return as All-Americans for the Waves.
• Barnett, Hartke, and Reilly all played on some level of the national team this summer.
• Ryan Barnett earned a silver medal with the U23 team at the Pan American Cup while also playing on the senior USA team with Jacob Reilly in the Pan American Cup.
• Cole Hartke earned a bronze in the FIVB World Championship with the U21 team, the farthest the USA has ever gotten in the tournament.
• Winning his third and fourth collegiate conference honors two weeks ago, Cole Hartke swept the MPSF awards with an offensive and defensive Player of the Week nod after a sweep of Loyola Chicago and reverse-sweep of Lewis.
• Nationally, Hartke earned the AVCA National Player of the Week.
• Only a sophomore, the Barrington, Ill. native is the reigning MPSF Freshman of the year as well as a second-team All American.
• As of this week, Hartke leads the nation in points per set after surpassing his previous nation-leading average of 5.5 with 6.2/set at No. 16 CSUN. 
• Redshirting last season, Grant Lamoureux is a player to keep an eye out for on this star-studded roster.
• Named the Junior Male Indoor Athlete of the Year this past year, the redshirt freshman brings plenty of experience regardless of never logging collegiate minutes.
• This summer, Lamoureux was a captain of the U19 World Championship squad with team USA where he led the team in kills nearly every time out.
• Redshirt Ford Harman transferred into Pepperdine from national-champion Long Beach State.
• This summer, Harman earned a Silver medal at the 2025 Men's Beach Collegiate Challenge for team USA.
• Harman is originally from Santa Barbara, playing at Santa Barbara HS before college.
• Outside of the United States, the Waves represent three other countries in Cuba, Serbia, and Switzerland.
• Andrej Polomac, a transfer from Purdue Fort-Wayne, is the sole Serbian on the squad, brings elite experience as a setter with an average of just under 9 aces per set last season.
• The Waves add even more international experience next year with two of the three commits coming from overseas, bringing another Serbian to Malibu as well as a middle blocker from the Czech Republic.
• In his fourth year at the helm, Winder is coming off his most successful season last year with a run to the final four in the NCAA tournament.
• Last season, Winder led the Waves to an MPSF title, the program's first since 2019.  
• As the ninth coach at the helm, Winder is an alum of the program himself, earning a National Title with Pepperdine in 2005.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH VANGUARD
• Pepperdine has never played Vanguard.
• This year marks just the second year the Lions have been members of the MPSF, and the Waves will play them for the first time in program history Tuesday night in Malibu.
 
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
• Sitting at 3-6, including 0-3 in conference play, Vanguard is looking for their first win in conference play.
• Most recently, the Lions were swept at home by No. 1 UCLA.
• Offensively, Grant Veldman leads the lions with a .316 kill percentage on 174 attempts.
•Defensively, Logan Freemon has a team-leading 45 digs with eight blocks, contributing a roster-high 104.0 points to the team so far this season.
 
 
 
First serve on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. PST. The game can be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required) with live stats available on pepperdinewaves.com.
 
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.
 
TICKETS
For more information and to purchase tickets to upcoming home events, visit here.
 
FOLLOW
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