Saturday, May 2
Noblesville, Ind.
3:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
24-7,13-1MPSFMVB
2
vs
3
Ball State University
26-4,13-3MIVA
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pepperdine | 23 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 14 | 2 |
| Ball St. | 25 | 23 | 25 | 19 | 16 | 3 |
Photo by: Kelly Nugent
No. 4 Men’s Volleyball Suffers Heartbreaker in Regional Final to No. 7 Ball State
5/2/2026 8:47:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. – The No. 4 Pepperdine men's volleyball team (24-7, 13-1 MPSF) suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to Ball State (26-4, 13-3 MIVA) in the regional final of the NCAA tournament Saturday night.
"I am grateful for the group that we have," head coach Jonathan Winder said. "I think the resolve and the character is deserving of being one of the better teams in the country. We were just a few plays short tonight with a couple balls that didn't go our way. It was a great match and both teams had great fight and resiliency."
Getting off to a slow start, the Waves had their worst outing of the night in the opening set. Hitting at just a .070 clip as a team, the offense struggled to find a rhythm. Outblocked 8.5 to 3.0, the Cardinals were shutting down any offense the Waves tried to get going. Despite the large gap in stats, Pepperdine kept it close down the stretch, narrowly dropping the set 25-23 to be at a disadvantage early.
Pepperdine flipped the script in the second set, winning it by the same score Ball State had just taken the first. Matching the Cardinals .500 hitting clip, Cole Hartke led the Waves with six kills, followed closely by Jose Gomez who recorded five. Gomez and Ryan Barnett both tallied an ace as the Waves tied the match at 1-all after a 25-23 set win.
Dead even in the third set, 11 ties would prove the two teams were dueling for each and every point. Noe Matthey went on the longest run behind the service line for Pepperdine early in the set, opening it up with his sole ace of the match. Hartke recorded eight of the team's 13 kills, but the Cardinals made the final push at the end to come out ahead 25-22, taking a 2-1 match lead.
Refusing to go down without a fight, the Waves dominated the fourth set. Holding a comfortable lead the majority of the way, Pepperdine outhit Ball State .484 to .200 as six different Waves recorded kills. The set ended on a kill from Barnett as Pepperdine outblocked Ball State 5.5 - 0 to take the fourth 25-19 and force a fifth.
The fifth set squeezed all the momentum swings into a short sprint to 15 with eight ties and four separate lead changes. Hartke went on his longest serving run of the night to give Pepperdine an early 4-1 lead. As the Cardinals stormed back to even the score, Zach Chapin came in late to serve, giving the Waves a 14-12 lead to serve the match point. However, it was Ball State's serving that ended the match, dishing out two aces in a row to take the five-set thriller 16-14, ending the Waves' season in the regional final.
Pepperdine finishes the season with their first back-to-back NCAA tournament appearance under Coach Winder. The Waves are also MPSF regular season champs for the first time since 2019. Historic wins from the season include at Hawaii for the first time in 20 years as well as the first sweep in Provo against BYU since 2010. With 24 wins on the year, it marks the most since the 2015 season 11 years ago.
PEPPERDINE VS. BALL STATE
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 11 9 28 .071
2 18 3 30 .500
3 13 4 31 .290
4 17 2 31 .484
5 7 5 25 .080
BALL STATE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 12 4 23 .348
2 15 2 26 .500
3 16 3 23 .565
4 12 5 35 .200
5 6 4 17 .118
GAME NOTES
• Cole Hartke led the team in kills with 23.
• As a team, the Waves notched a .297 hitting clip.
• Andrej Polomac took care of 56 of 63 total assists tonight.
• The Waves had seven aces tonight, with four different Waves securing at least one.
• The Cardinal outhit Pepperdine .347 to .297.
• The Waves were narrowly outblocked 17.5-15.0
• Noe Matthey recorded the most blocks, having a hand in eight.
• Pepperdine is now 9-2 all-time against the Cardinals.
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.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men's volleyball news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMVB_ .
"I am grateful for the group that we have," head coach Jonathan Winder said. "I think the resolve and the character is deserving of being one of the better teams in the country. We were just a few plays short tonight with a couple balls that didn't go our way. It was a great match and both teams had great fight and resiliency."
Getting off to a slow start, the Waves had their worst outing of the night in the opening set. Hitting at just a .070 clip as a team, the offense struggled to find a rhythm. Outblocked 8.5 to 3.0, the Cardinals were shutting down any offense the Waves tried to get going. Despite the large gap in stats, Pepperdine kept it close down the stretch, narrowly dropping the set 25-23 to be at a disadvantage early.
Pepperdine flipped the script in the second set, winning it by the same score Ball State had just taken the first. Matching the Cardinals .500 hitting clip, Cole Hartke led the Waves with six kills, followed closely by Jose Gomez who recorded five. Gomez and Ryan Barnett both tallied an ace as the Waves tied the match at 1-all after a 25-23 set win.
Dead even in the third set, 11 ties would prove the two teams were dueling for each and every point. Noe Matthey went on the longest run behind the service line for Pepperdine early in the set, opening it up with his sole ace of the match. Hartke recorded eight of the team's 13 kills, but the Cardinals made the final push at the end to come out ahead 25-22, taking a 2-1 match lead.
Refusing to go down without a fight, the Waves dominated the fourth set. Holding a comfortable lead the majority of the way, Pepperdine outhit Ball State .484 to .200 as six different Waves recorded kills. The set ended on a kill from Barnett as Pepperdine outblocked Ball State 5.5 - 0 to take the fourth 25-19 and force a fifth.
The fifth set squeezed all the momentum swings into a short sprint to 15 with eight ties and four separate lead changes. Hartke went on his longest serving run of the night to give Pepperdine an early 4-1 lead. As the Cardinals stormed back to even the score, Zach Chapin came in late to serve, giving the Waves a 14-12 lead to serve the match point. However, it was Ball State's serving that ended the match, dishing out two aces in a row to take the five-set thriller 16-14, ending the Waves' season in the regional final.
Pepperdine finishes the season with their first back-to-back NCAA tournament appearance under Coach Winder. The Waves are also MPSF regular season champs for the first time since 2019. Historic wins from the season include at Hawaii for the first time in 20 years as well as the first sweep in Provo against BYU since 2010. With 24 wins on the year, it marks the most since the 2015 season 11 years ago.
PEPPERDINE VS. BALL STATE
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 11 9 28 .071
2 18 3 30 .500
3 13 4 31 .290
4 17 2 31 .484
5 7 5 25 .080
BALL STATE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 12 4 23 .348
2 15 2 26 .500
3 16 3 23 .565
4 12 5 35 .200
5 6 4 17 .118
GAME NOTES
• Cole Hartke led the team in kills with 23.
• As a team, the Waves notched a .297 hitting clip.
• Andrej Polomac took care of 56 of 63 total assists tonight.
• The Waves had seven aces tonight, with four different Waves securing at least one.
• The Cardinal outhit Pepperdine .347 to .297.
• The Waves were narrowly outblocked 17.5-15.0
• Noe Matthey recorded the most blocks, having a hand in eight.
• Pepperdine is now 9-2 all-time against the Cardinals.
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.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men's volleyball news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMVB_ .
Team Stats
PEP
BSU
Kills
66
61
Errors
23
18
Attempts
145
124
Hitting %
.297
.347
Points
88.0
85.5
Assists
63
56
Aces
7
7
Blocks
15
17.5
Game Leaders
Kills
23
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
5
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
