#9 Pepperdine Takes Down Cal Baptist Off 15 Wieczorek Kills

Match Stats

• #9 Pepperdine def. Cal Baptist 3-1, (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-14)
• Pepperdine improves to 3-2, while Cal Baptist falls to 2-6

Pepperdine takes down Cal Baptist in a quick four set match up, where the Wave held Cal Baptist to a .078 hitting percentage.

David Wieczorek led the Wave with 15 kills and six digs, while Alex Harthaller added 11 kills and seven digs. Michael Wexter put down seven kills and a team-best eight digs, while setter Joshua Stewart dished out 22 assists and seven digs.

For Cal Baptist, Luis Palos put down 11 kills and six digs, while Rohit Paul hammered down 10 kills and seven digs. In the back court, Emmett Enriques picked up a match-best 10 digs.

Press Release

Courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics

Michael Wexter plastered a career-high five aces on the leaderboard in Firestone Fieldhouse this Wednesday night, propelling the 9^th-ranked Pepperdine men’s volleyball team to the first MPSF win of the season with a four-set win over Cal Baptist.  The Waves tabbed 25-20, 23-25, 25-16 and 25-14 set scores to secure the victory.

Along with his aces, Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS) tabbed seven kills, eight digs and three blocks to help the Pepperdine (3-2, 1-1 MPSF) effort.

The Waves were good for a .276 collective hitting percentage with 41 kills on 105 swings.  Cal Baptist (2-6, 1-4 MPSF) tabbed 43 kills, but on 129 attempts for a .078 success rate against the home team.  Pepperdine smoked down 10 aces, compared to the Lancers three, and produced 12.5 team blocks compared to the opposition’s 4.0.

Redshirt-sophomore David Wieczorek(Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) had a big offensive night for the Waves, picking up 15 kills on a .314 hitting percentage.  He added an ace, six digs and two blocks including one solo rejection.

Senior Mitchell Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) had a season-high seven blocks, just one shy from tying his career-best, while adding five kills on a .714 success rate and an ace for the home team.  Also in double-figure smashes was junior Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austia/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW), who produced 11 on top of a .242 offensive output.  Harthaller added two aces, seven digs and three blocks including one solo effort.

Senior setter Joshua Stewart (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory/Pacific) had a big night dishing out plays with 33 assists, and picking up the open drives with seven digs and four blocks.  Junior Clay Carr(Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) also tabbed three blocks with one solo block.

Cal Baptist began the match with a furry of defensive plays, pulling ahead 6-1 over the Waves.  Pepperdine would not sit idly by, however, as the home team closed the gap and with a 14-5 run the Waves were looking at a 15-11 lead.  The Lancers were not able to overcome Pepperdine’s strong offensive and defensive attacks and the home team prevailed after an ace by Harthaller and a kill, block, kill sequence from Wieczorek to go up 1-0 on the night.

The second set remained close throughout.  Despite an early 4-1 from Pepperdine, Cal Baptist rallied back and tie the match 23-23.  A pair of kills gave CBU the set and put the match at 1-1.

The Waves flipped the switch in the third set.  After a point-for-point start en route to a 13-13 tie, Pepperdine started gaining momentum with a pair of block collaborations from Penning and Wexter to pull ahead 17-13 and put Wexter at the service line.  The Illinois native was unstoppable through at five-point sequence that included three consecutive aces and gave the Waves a 22-15 advantage.  In the next possession, Pepperdine put senior Max States(Honolulu, Hawai’i/Solimar Academy) at the service line and as he put the Lancers on their heels, Wieczorek delivered the final offensive blows with two kills for the 25-16 win.

In the final set, Pepperdine was confident once again, and after commanding a 9-5 lead to start the set, the Waves refused to slow down.  Three blocks propelled the team forward and kills from Penning and Carr put the Waves ahead 17-8.  At the 22-14 mark, States entered the match once again and an ace by his effort put the home team in closing position.  Pepperdine earned the 3-1 victory with a commanding 25-14 final set victory.

Pepperdine will be back in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 28 as the Waves continue MPSF play with a bout against USC at 2 p.m.  Follow Pepperdine @PeppVolleyball on Twitter and Facebook for immediate updates and head to PepperdineWaves.com for recaps, results and more.