MALIBU, Calif. – The No.6 Pepperdine men's volleyball team (15-4, 6-0 MPSF) took the first three UC Merced (3-13, 0-8 MPSF) in the first of two matches against the Bobcats Friday night in Firestone Fieldhouse.
"We have an incredible group of players, and especially our seniors and super senior
Ryan Barnett," head coach
Jonathan Winder said. "They lead with great class off the court and are resilient competitors on the court. Their standard in all parts of their day has led our program to where we are today and where we are headed."
From start to finish, the Waves were in control of the match. On senior day, it was
Aidan Tune who led the Waves on the offensive front with 13 kills, followed closely by
Matt Mazur who has recorded 10+ kills in the last three matches. Ten service aces, six blocks, and an overall hitting percentage of .603 round out an overall stellar night for the Waves in Malibu.
Set one, which only saw the Bobcats serve more than two consecutive points once, was all Pepperdine. Tune and
Ryan Barnett split the title of most kills with five a piece through the opening set.
Andrej Polomac ended the first with two aces in his four-point stretch as the Waves took the first 25-15.
In the most lopsided set of the night, there were no lead changes or ties through the second as the Waves were ahead from the jump. Five kills from Mazur with just one collective team error propelled Pepperdine to a .688 attacking percentage to take the set 25-10. Mazur had the longest service run of the set with five, highlighted by an ace before Tune put the exclamation point on with the help of two Bobcat errors.
UC Merced never gave up, hitting their best percentage of the night in the third and final set at .304. Tune continued to carry the Waves with six of the team's 13 kills down the stretch.
Ryan Graves recorded two aces as Graves and Watson combined for 2.0 blocks.
Vincent Coello ended the night with the first ace of his career to give Pepperdine the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
Remaining perfect in conference play, the Waves are 6-0 through the opening matches for MPSF play. Next up, Pepperdine travels to Provo, Utah for two against the BYU Cougars. The matches next Friday and Saturday will be available to stream on B1G+ (subscription required) with live stats available at
www.pepperdinewaves.com. First serve both days is scheduled for 6 p.m.
PEPPERDINE VS. UC MERCED
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 17 1 29 .552
2 12 1 16 .688
3 13 2 18 .611
UC MERCED ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 9 3 28 .214
2 6 4 25 .080
3 11 4 23 .304
GAME NOTES
•
Aidan Tune led the Waves with 13 kills.
• Four different Waves recorded two aces as the team notched 10 total.
• For the second match in a row,
Matt Mazur led in offensive accuracy, hitting at a .750 percentage with no errors.
•
Ryan Graves recorded the majority of assists with 20 of the team's 40, followed closely by
Andrej Polomac who had 16.
•
Jacob Reilly had a team-high 12 receptions without an error.
• Pepperdine recorded 6.0 blocks compared to UC Merced's 1.0.
• The Waves outhit the Bobcats .603 to .197 for their best percentage of the season so far.
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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