No. 4 Pepperdine Men’s Volleyball won their final match of the regular season 3-0 against the No. 6 University of Southern California on April 18 at Firestone Fieldhouse with an attendance of 2,870, the highest recorded number in the modern volleyball era, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
In the final match at Firestone Fieldhouse for the Waves, Pepperdine ended strong, winning their third straight and 11 of the last 12 matches, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“It was just so special to win like this, finish the regular season on a high note and finish in this gym,” said Ryan Barnett, redshirt senior opposite hitter. “We had a great game with a million people here and it was truly so special.”
Senior middle blocker James Eadie said Firestone Fieldhouse holds a lot of memories for him as a Wave.
“A lot of memories here, being here for four years, thousands of hours in the gym,” Eadie said. “It was just a great way for all of us to come together.”
In his final match in Firestone Fieldhouse, Eadie recorded four kills, three digs and led the Waves with five block assists.
“Everybody loves it [the Malibu Roofing Company],” Eadie said. “It’s great.”
The Waves swept USC in both meetings this season and have now won 15 of the past 17 matchups against the Trojans, dating back to April 4, 2019, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“The phrase the group had is ‘win the day’,” Head Coach Jonathan Winder said. “It sounds a little cheesy, but we’ve done that pretty consistently since the beginning.”
After a back and forth start in the first set, the Waves managed to win 25-20 after sophomore outside hitter Cole Hartke recorded two kills to help close the set.
Both teams kept exchanging points early in the second set, staying tied until both teams reached 11 points, where USC managed to start a run, scoring three points in a row.
“Cole [Hartke] is great, he just kept saying just to believe that we’re gonna win,” Barnett said. “Doesn’t matter if we go down by five, ten or whatever, we’re just gonna come back.”
The Trojans could not manage to grow their lead any further, as Barnett recorded three kills in a row to keep the Waves alive. Hartke finally managed to close the gap along with freshman middle blocker Noe Matthey, scoring three kills in a row to tie the set at 21.
“The second set, we were playing pretty well, we hit on offense but they were also hitting the same,” Winder said. “I called a timeout at some point, and just said, this USC team has gone up and down throughout the season, so we could stay in it and make a couple plays, so we did that.”
Redshirt junior opposite hitter Aiden Tune subbed in for the final three points of set two, recording a service ace to help close the set 25-22 in favor of the Waves.
“Sometimes you have stars and sometimes you have heroes on your team,” Winder said. “Aiden [Tune] is always the hero of the team.”
Pepperdine rode the momentum of the comeback into the third set, taking a quick 6-1 lead. The Trojans managed to close the gap to three points, going down 17-14, but the attack of Barnett and Hartke kept the Waves ahead all the way until the end of the set.
Matthey recorded a kill to close out set three 25-18, marking the final point scored in Firestone Fieldhouse for Pepperdine Men’s Volleyball.
“We lost games that we should have destroyed teams, we won games that we should have lost, so we’ve seen it all,” Barnett said. “It’s just about being really good and being really resilient.”
Pepperdine recorded 40 kills on 70 total attacks, alongside 38 assists, 17 digs, six blocks and five service aces in the match. The Waves also held the Trojans to no service aces and forced sixteen attack errors.
Pepperdine ended the regular season with a 22-5 overall record, including a 13-1 in-conference record, according to Pepperdine Athletics. The Waves will begin play for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament on April 22 in Provo, Utah.
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Contact Shane Stephens via email: shane.stephens@pepperdine.edu