No. 7 Pepperdine and No. 13 Ball State swept their foes on the road, while No. 6 BYU scored an upset of No. 3 BYU to win their ninth straight late Saturday night.
#6 BYU def. #3 UCLA 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20)
- BYU moves to 14-4, 7-0 MPSF; UCLA falls to 15-5, 4-2 MPSF
- Provo, Utah
- Box Score
- UCLA Recap / BYU Recap
Key Stats: BYU handed UCLA its fourth match in its last five outings with a 10-5 lead in blocks and a .318 hitting effort. The Cougars also edged the Bruins in kills (41-37) and aces (3-1) to win their ninth straight.
Stat Leaders: Freshman opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez (12), sophomore setter/outside Cyrus Fa’alogo (11) and senior outside Brenden Sander (10) guided the Cougars to victory. Fa’alogo hit at a .471 clip and added six digs and three blocks, while Garcia Fernandez hit .348 and chipped in three blocks. Freshman middle Felipe de Brito Ferreira put up six blocks and added four kills.
Junior outside Dylan Missry and senior opposite Christian Hessenauer notched eight kills apiece, while sophomore middle Daenen Gyimah added seven to lead the Bruin attack. Gyimah hit at a match-high .636 clip and put up three blocks, while junior setter Micah Ma’a also added three stuffs alongside his 29 assists and team-high eight digs.
It Was Over When: The teams tied seven times in Set 3, last at 14. BYU pulled away with four straight points, including two Garcia Fernandez kills and a Leo Durkin ace. Another 3-0 run pushed the margin to five at 22-17 and forced UCLA to use its final timeout. A block by Gyimah and Ma’a led a 3-1 Bruin rally and pulled UCLA within three at 23-20. Putdowns by Fa’alogo and Sander wrapped up the victory.
#7 Pepperdine def. #20 Stanford 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 27-25)
- Pepperdine moves to 10-4, 4-2 MPSF; Stanford falls to 3-15, 1-6 MPSF
- Palo Alto, California
- Box Score
- Pepperdine Recap / Stanford Recap
Key Stats: Pepperdine hit .305 for the match and edged out Stanford in every statistical category en route to a road sweep. A 7.5 to 4 lead in blocks helped hold the Cardinal to a .247 hitting effort. The Waves also bested kills (40-39) and aces (4-3). Pepperdine hit .355 in the final stanza of the victory, improving on its first two set efforts of .265 and .300.
Stat Leaders: Redshirt junior outside David Wieczorek (11) and senior outside Alex Harthaller (10) led the Waves to victory with double-digit kill efforts. Junior middle Max Chamberlain chipped in six kills, a team-high five blocks and two aces, while senior outside Colby Harriman also added five stuffs to go with four kills.
Freshman outside Jaylen Jasper downed a match-high 16 kills for the Cardinal, while freshman middle Kyler Presho and sophomore outside Eric Beatty followed with seven apiece. Presho hit at a .636 clip (7-0-11) and notched a team-best three blocks. Sophomore opposite Mason Tufuga also put up three blocks.
It Was Over When: Pepperdine built a 16-9 lead in Set 3 thanks to five Stanford miscues and two blocks, two aces and a kill by Chamberlain. The Cardinal chipped away, eventually tying it up at 21. Five Jasper putaways and two by Beatty guided the comeback effort. Pepperdine earned its first match-point try at 24-23 on a service error, but it took two more tries to finish off the match. A Chamberlain kill made it 26-25 and a stuff by Chamberlain and Robert Mullahey put in the final nail.
#13 Ball State def. UC San Diego (RV) 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-22)
- Ball State moves to 10-7; UCSD falls to 8-9
- La Jolla, California
- Box Score
- Ball State Recap / UC San Diego Recap
Key Stats: Ball State served up six aces en route to a sweep and its fifth-straight win on Saturday. The Cardinals edged UC San Diego in kills (39-38) and aces (6-2), but the Tritons held a .292 to .281 lead in hitting efficiency. Both teams managed six blocks. Ball State hit at a .407 clip in Set 3 to make up a lot of ground.
Stat Leaders: Sophomore outside Matt Szews and senior middle Matt Walsh posted 12 kills apiece to lead the Ball State offense. Walsh hit at a match-high .647 clip, with just one error, while also chipping in three aces and three blocks. Szews put up a team-leading four blocks. Sophomore outside Blake Reardon added seven kills, while junior middle Parker Swartz accounted for two aces and three blocks.
Freshman outside Wyatt Harrison and senior opposite Tanner Syftestad turned in 12 kills each to guide the Tritons. Syftestad hit .440 and put up three blocks, while redshirt junior middle Drew Sloane added four stuffs. Redshirt sophomore outside Xander Jimenez notched six kills to round out the UCSD attack.
It Was Over When: After nine ties, the last at 14-all, Reardon turned in three kills and Walsh added two aces to lift Ball State to a 19-14 advantage. UC San Diego battled back with six of the next nine points to pull within two at 22-20. Syftestad downed two kills in the rally, which also featured a block by Nathan Thalken and Alec Flowers. A Szews putaway and a bad set by UCSD made it 24-20 Cardinals. A service error and an ace by Luke McDonald thwarted two match point tries, before a hitting error ended the night with a 25-22 BSU victory.
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