David Wieczorek Comes Up Big as #11 Pepperdine Slips By #10 UCSB

MATCH STATS

• #11 Pepperdine Def. #10 UCSB 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-12)
• #11 Pepperdine 8-3 (2-1 MPSF); #10 UCSB 4-5 (0-0 Big West)
• Santa Barbara, California
• Box score

Santa Barbara, California – Since returning from injury, David Wieczorek has been a star for the 2018 edition of Pepperdine. That continued in a highly-ranked matchup, as the 11th-ranked Waves bested #10 UC Santa Barbara in a five-set thriller.

Wieczorek finished the night with team-highs in kills (14), blocks (six) and aces (three), while also adding to his stat sheet with seven digs. Not to mention that he hit .314 on a night where the offense for Pepperdine hit just .190 collectively. The best thing that the Waves had going there way besides Wieczorek was the serve, as they put down eight aces (to four from UCSB) for the match with similar serve error numbers.

The efforts of that serve and Wieczorek were enough to overcome Corey Chavers (22 kills, .356, five blocks, three digs, two aces), who also starred for UCSB in what was the more efficient offense overall in hitting .246, while the two teams were even in blocks. Unfortunately for the Gauchos though, their worst set came in the fifth, as they hit .167 compared to a .375 mark from Pepperdine.

Other notable performers for Pepperdine were Colby Harriman (12 kills, .059, eight digs, one ace), Michael Wexter (nine kills, .615, four blocks, three digs) and Robert Mullahey (47 assists, eight digs, five blocks).

In the losing effort for UCSB, Keenan Sanders (18 kills, .233, seven digs, three blocks) added to Chavers numbers with Randy DeWeese (45 assists, eight digs, six blocks) facilitating and Grady Yould (15 digs, four assists) patrolling the back.

Moving forward, Pepperdine will host #2 UCLA on the Friday. UCSB meanwhile will also have a home match on Friday as they take on (RV) UC San Diego.

Press Releases

Courtesy of Pepperdine:

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Max Chamberlain aced the No. 10 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team to a five-set win over No. 13 UC Santa Barbara at Robertson Gymnasium on Wednesday afternoon, collecting the final two points of the match from the service line to finish off the non-conference win for the Waves.

Pepperdine collected 25-22, 21-25, 26-24 and 22-25 to put the match in a fifth set. After facing a 10-7 deficit late in the fifth set, Pepperdine battled back to tie things up at the 11-11 mark. After a kill from Alex Harthaller and an attack error from the opposition, the Waves were looking at a 13-12 lead late in the action. Chamberlain commanded the service line with a pair of aces to finish off the set 15-12 and the match 3-2 for the Waves’ fourth-straight win.

The Waves (8-3) led the match at the service line against the Gauchos (4-5), while both teams posted 13.0 team blocks in the big defensive match-up.

BIG WAVES

• David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 14 kills, .314 hitting %, 3 aces, 7 digs, 6 blocks, 31 successful serve receptions with no errors
• Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austria/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW): 13 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks
• Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 3 aces, 4 blocks (1 solo), 3 kills
• Colby Harriman (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS): 12 kills, 1 ace, 8 digs
• Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS): 9 kills, .615 hitting %, 4 blocks, 3 digs
• Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 47 assists, 1 ace, 8 digs, 5 blocks
• Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS): 10 digs, 4 assists, 22 serve receptions with no errors
• Clay Carr (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS): 3 blocks, 1 kill
• Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy): 3 kills, .750 hitting %, 2 digs
  

  WAVES VS. GAUCHOS

  The two teams were even with 53 assists and 13.0 team blocks in a big battle at the net, although that’s where the similarities parted. The Gauchos led the match with 56 kills on a .246 output, while the Waves put up 55 smashes on a .190 success rate. UCSB also led in the back row with a 49-44 dig-ratio.

  PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET

  Set K-E-TA (Pct)1. 16-3-30 (.433)

  2. 10-8-30 (.067)

  3. 8-7-30 (.033)

  4. 12-7-36 (.139)

  5. 9-3-16 (.375)

  TOTAL: 55-28-142 (.190)

  UC SANTA BARBARA ATTACK BY SET

  Set K-E-TA (Pct)1. 16-6-34 (.294)

  2. 11-4-23 (.304)

  3. 13-7-30 (.200)

  4. 12-5-31 (.226)

  5. 4-2-12 (.167)

  TOTAL: 56-24-130 (.246)

  PLAY-BY-PLAY

  The match started off evenly for both sides, with the Waves and Gauchos exchanging points to the 4-4 mark. Pepperdine gained the first advantage 8-5 on kills from Michael Wexter and Alex Harthaller. Pepperdine maintained a two to three point lead after a 14-14 tie in the middle of the set. A block collaboration from Wexter and Wieczorek, followed by big kills form Harriman and an ace from Wieczorek helped the Waves to a set-point opportunity. Harthaller did the final kill for the Waves’ 25-22 set win and 1-0 early advantage.The second set began similar to the first with each team hitting the 10-point mark. The Gauchos then worked towards a three-point lead at the 19-16 mark before the Waves could counter. Pepperdine brought the set to a one-point deficit at the 22-21 score, but UCSB closed the door and finished off with a 25-21 set win to tie the match.

  It was another back-and-forth set in the third, with the Waves going up 8-6 and down 13-15 towards a late 18-18 tie. Robert Mullahey roped an ace on the court and big blocks from Clay Carr, Wieczorek and Mullahey helped Pepperdine, but the opposition continued to stay close until the 24-24 mark. Harriman ripped an ace to a fraction inside the back left line to get the edge and then continued with big defensive and impressive digs en route to the Waves 26-24 set win and 2-1 lead heading into the fourth.

  After early tied scores, the Gauchos worked ahead to a 17-11 advantage late in the set. At the 24-17 mark, the Waves started to make a comeback, collecting blocks from Mullahey and Wexter and smashes from Harthaller, Chamberlain and Wieczorek towards a 24-22 score. UCSB closed the set down on a kill from the outside, though for a 25-22 set win to force the fifth set.

  The opposition worked ahead to start the fifth set and reached the eight-point mark first with an 8-5 advantage. After a 10-7 deficit, the Waves worked back and kills from Wieczorek and Harriman tied the score at 11’s. Harthaller picked up another smash in the final moments to put Max Chamberlain at the service line with a 13-12 Pepperdine lead. He put down two-straight aces, including one that painted the back line to win the match with the 15-12 final set win.

  NEXT UP

  The Waves return home to host No. 2 UCLA on Friday at 7 p.m. The match will stream live with WaveCasts. Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @PepperdineWaves. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.

Courtesy of UCSB:

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team held an 11-9 lead in the decisive fifth set of Wednesday night’s contest at Rob Gym, but ultimately couldn’t hold off No. 10 Pepperdine in a 3-2 loss. Set scores were 25-22, 21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-12.

The entire contest had a see-saw feel to it, with the teams trading leads and runs in each of the five sets. It was the first match in two weeks for No. 13 UCSB, which dropped to 4-5 on the season with the loss. The Waves, who were defeated 3-1 by the Gauchos in Malibu earlier this season, improved to 8-3.

UCSB was led by a pair of standout performances from its pins, with junior outside hitter Corey Chavers leading all players with 22 kills on .356 hitting while sophomore opposite Keenan Sanders had 18 kills – more than any Pepperdine player – with a .233 hitting percentage.

Defensively, freshman middle blocker Jack Truman and sophomore setter Randy DeWeese co-led all player with six blocks apiece, while DeWeese flirted with a triple-double (45 assists, eight digs). In the back row, sophomore libero Grady Youldequaled his 2018-best with 15 digs – still the most single-match digs recorded by a Big West player this year – while sophomore outside Roy McFarland set a new career mark with 11 digs.

The Waves had a trio of players finish with 10 or more kills, led by David Wieczorek‘s 14. Pepperdine doubled up UCSB on aces, eight to four, but was out-hit by a decent margin (.246 to .190).

Despite six kills from Chavers in the first, UCSB was bested as the Waves were able to hit a robust .433 for the set including just three attack errors.

Thanks to 4.5 blocks, including three from Truman alone, UCSB was able to limit Pepperdine to a .067 clip in the second set. Despite their prowess at the net, the Gauchos still had to bust off a late run to win the set, pulling out three straight points – including a pair or Waves’ attacking errors forced by the strong serving of sophomore Casey McGarry – to close it out.

The third was the closest set of the night, with the two teams tying 11 times and swapping the lead six times. No team led by more than two except when the Gauchos briefly led by three on a DeWeese-Connor Drake (five kills on nine swings, four blocks) double-block, but the Waves quickly wiped that margin out with a 4-1 run that tied it at 22-22. UCSB was the first to reach set point when Chavers’ eighth kill of the frame made it 24-23, but Pepperdine won the final three points to take the set and the match-lead.

UCSB led by a healthy margin for most of the fourth set, using an 8-2 run to open up a 16-9 lead on the Waves. The Gauchos had a scare late, as a 24-17 lead was reduced to 24-22 as the Waves repelled five straight set points, but UCSB ultimately broke through on a Sanders kill.

The Gauchos looked to have the momentum early on in the fifth, most notable when Chavers ripped a serve off the chest of Pepperdine’s Alex Harthaller to make it 5-3 and force a timeout, and they had a three-point lead when the teams switched sides midway through. UCSB would eventually go up 11-9, but Pepperdine rallied to take six of the final seven points and the match. The Waves’ Max Chamberlain ended the contest with back-to-back aces.

UCSB is next in action on Friday night, hosting UC San Diego in the first-ever men’s volleyball league match in the history of the Big West Conference. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.