The No.-4 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team held down the fort in Malibu winning both of its matches in three games this weekend against MPSF rivals Pacific and Stanford.
On Friday the Waves captured a 30-25 30-25 30-28 victory over Pacific (2-5 0-2) their 11th consecutive win against the Tigers.
“Sometimes you have to give the other team some credit said Head Coach Marv Dunphy. We just like to make the other team play volleyball because that is good for us.”
The Waves had “big roofs” on their side with a 9.5-3.0 blocking advantage. Junior middle blocker Rodnei Santos was responsible for seven of those blocks.
The first game was a toss up with both teams remaining close on the scoreboard. With the game knotted at 10 the Waves finally took a four-point lead with two kills by both McKee and Carroll. Throughout the rest of the game Pepperdine had at least a three-point lead over Pacific.
The Waves won the game with two kills by sophomore middle blocker Tyler Jaynes. McKee added eight kills and the Waves compiled an outstanding .647 hitting percentage.
During the second game when the score was tied at 8 the Waves took the lead and never lost it following a Tigers service error and a block from both Carroll and Santos.
Game three was very exciting and even closer than the others – the score was tied 20 times and the lead team changed five times. The Tigers at times lead by three points and it became crucial for the Waves to step up when the score was 25-23.
There was a service error by Pacific that might have cost them the game and Schirripa came off the bench with two straight kills giving Pepperdine the lead.
“It’s nice to be a positive force to the team Schirripa said.For this game the hitting percentage dipped to .296, but Pacific was held to .100. Sophomore outside hitter Cory Riecks had four kills and Carroll had five.
Soon the game was tied again at 28-28. Pepperdine won the next two points with a kill from McKee and,-with both Carroll and Santos having a match-ending block-the Waves sealed the game and the match.
Senior opposite Paul Carroll hit .571 and pitched in 10 digs. Senior outside hitter Matt McKee had 13 kills, while sophomore setter Kasey Crider added 45 assists to contribute to the Waves’ .407 team hitting percentage.
As a coach I am always nervous about every practice game and match Dunphy said. I just have to know that the team will play their hardest.”
On Saturday Pepperdine had another three-game sweep this time against No.-3 Stanford. This was Pepperdine’s 16th consecutive win over the Cardinal. The scoreboard read 30-25 30-26 30-26.
Stanford took a 6-5 lead in the first game but the Waves scored the next three points to take the lead for good. Pepperdine went on a 4-1 run with Riecks getting a kill and helped Jaynes get two blocks. Soon the Waves went up 21-15 after a service ace by Jaynes. But then Stanford rallied to get within one point of Pepperdine. The Waves scored five of the six points to end the game with a win.
In game two Stanford led 11-8 before Pepperdine tied it up at 12-12. Later in the game the Cardinals led 17-14 but the Waves tied it up at 18-18. The rest of the game went back and forth tied all the way up to 22. On a Stanford service error the Waves scored three straight points. With an ace from Carroll the scoreboard read 29-25 and Santos ended the game with a kill.
“I was not nervous through out this match because we were playing well said junior libero Sean Grubbs. I knew we would come through in the clutch.”
The last game was a close up until the finish. Stanford held a 22-21 lead but Pepperdine had a 7-2 run to bring the score to 28-24. Carroll had three kills in a row to put the Waves permanently in the lead with Santos again ending the game with a kill.
“If we play like how we did verses Stanford then I have no doubt that we can win said Schirripa.
Tomorrow the Waves will host No. 6 USC at 7 p.m in Firestone Fieldhouse.