MATCH STATS
- #8 Pepperdine def. #14 Concordia-Irvine 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-23)
- Pepperdine moves to 11-6, 5-3 MPSF; Concordia falls to 10-12, 3-5 MPSF
- Malibu, California
- Box Score
- Concordia Recap / Pepperdine Recap
Pepperdine used 13.5 blocks to stifle the Concordia offense and won the rest of the stat sheet as well in the sweep. The Waves outdid the Eagles in kills (38-27), hitting percentage (.360 to .127), aces (9-6) and blocks (13.5 to 11). Pepperdine started the match by hitting over .400 in the first two sets, committing just five miscues.
Redshirt junior outside David Wieczorek did it all for the Waves, notching 12 kills, six aces and four blocks in the sweep. Senior outside Alex Harthaller was not far behind with nine kills, five blocks and an ace. Senior outside Colby Harriman chipped in six kills, four blocks and three aces, while junior middle Max Chamberlain came up with five kills, a team-high seven blocks and three aces, while hitting .571.
Redshirt sophomore outside Raymond Barsemian carried the Eagles with 11 kills, three aces and three blocks, while hitting at a team-best .417 clip. Redshirt sophomore outside Darcy Taig and junior middle Hunter Howell followed with five and four kills respectively. Howell also notched four blocks, while redshirt junior setter Chandler Gibb put up a team-high five stuffs.
Harthaller downed three straight kills as Pepperdine went up 8-2 in Set 1, but Concordia bounced back with six of the next eight points, including two aces. Mullahey turned in two blocks and an ace as the Waves put together a 7-1 run and grabbed a 17-9 advantage. The Golden Eagles slowed Pepperdine with back-to-back points, but couldn’t stop the Waves from rolling ahead 21-11 behind a kill and two aces by Wieczorek. A pair of Kaleb Denmark putaways capped the 25-15 Wave victory. Pepperdine outhit Concordia Irvine .455 to .111 in the stanza.
The Waves boasted a 12-5 advantage early in Set 2 thanks to two kills and a block by Harthaller and two Wieczorek putaways. Down 16-8, the Eagles scored three in a row with two kills and a block, but gave up four of the next five, including two Harthaller putaways, which made it 20-18. Taig and Barsemian combined on a block and each added a kill to cut the margin to five. Wieczorek notched two kills and a block down the final stretch as Pepperdine closed out a 25-16 win with a 5-1 run.
Pepperdine carried the momentum into Set 3, jumping ahead 8-4 as Wieczorek served up two aces. Jonathan Carlson answered with two aces of his own as part of a 4-0 Concordia run, which tied it up at 8-all. The Eagles grabbed the lead at 12-11, their first since the opening point of Set 2, on a Barsemian ace. Wieczorek added two more aces and a kill to lift the Waves to a 15-12 edge. Concordia would not go away, however, knotting the score again at 16 after back to back stuffs by Chandler Gibb, Hunter Howell and Carlson. The knot-up prompted a 6-2 Pepperdine run, including two Wieczorek kills and a pair of blocks by Wexter and Harthaller. The Eagles took a timeout and pulled within one at 22-21 as Barsemian added a kill and a block. Harthaller and Harriman countered with kills of their own to set up match point at 24-21. Barsemian kept the Eagles alive with a kill and an ace, but committed a hitting error to end the match.
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