Michael Wexter, an All-American and Pepperdine men's volleyball alumnus, was hired as an assistant coach to the Pepperdine women’s volleyball coaching staff in February 2024. He enters his third season on the women's coaching staff in 2026.
During his second season, he helped the Waves to a 21-8 record. Over the final 17 matches of the campaign, Pepperdine was a blistering 15-2. 'Wex' helped three Waves (Ella Piskorz, Chloe Pravednikov, Tristen Raymond) earn All-WCC First Team honors, with Raymond also collecting All-Freshmen Team honors. Libero/defensive specialist Laine Briggs also garnered All-WCC Honorable mention. Piskorz led the WCC in blocks per set (1.42, first), while Irelynd Lorenzen finished third in the league in blocks per set (1.19). Briggs was also near the top of the leaderboard in several statistical categories in the West Coast Conference, including digs per set (3.69, 3rd), total digs (391, fourth), and service aces per set (0.48, first). Raymond wasn't far behind at 0.38 service aces per set, good for fifth in the WCC. Pepperdine's 21 overall wins were the most since 2021 (22), and the Waves' 15 conference wins marked the seventh time in eight seasons, since 2018, that Peppedine has tallied at least 14 WCC victories.
His first season on the women's sideline in 2024 saw the Waves go 17-11 against a challenging non-conference schedule and finish third in the WCC standings. Thanks to the efforts of Grace Chillingworth and Birdie Hendrickson, Pepperdine had arguably the most productive offensive duo in the league; Chillingworth's 3.94 kills per set ranked second in the WCC, while Hendrickson's mark of 3.55 kills per set ranked third. Both seniors earned All-WCC First Team nods. Freshman middle blocker Ella Piskorz also put together one of the most impressive debut seasons in program history, becoming the first Wave to make the All-WCC First Team and the All-WCC Freshman Team since 2016. Trinity Stanger (WCC Second Team) and Chloe Pravednikov (WCC All-Freshman Team) rounded out the Waves' all-conference award winners.
Before joining the women's side, Wexter finished a full 2024 spring season with the Waves' men's volleyball program.
Wexter graduated from Pepperdine in 2019 after a standout four seasons as an outside hitter and opposite for the Waves, including AVCA All-American honorable mention and Volleyball Magazine All-American second team honors in his senior campaign. He was also an All-MPSF first team selection in 2019 and honorable mention in 2018. Wexter appeared in 86 matches and 303 sets throughout four seasons with the blue and orange, marking 700 kills and averaging 2.31 kills/set on a .311 clip. He also averaged 1.26 digs, 0.56 blocks and 0.23 aces per set.
Wexter had also competed as a member of the U.S. Men's Junior National Team from 2015 to 2020 prior to and during his time with the Waves. After Pepperdine, he played professionally for Helios Grizzlys Giesen in Hildesheim, Germany. Since then, he returned to the Southern California area, coaching for various club teams and ages, as well as working in sales development for Swell Energy and as a technical recruitment consultant with Piper Maddox.
