Denise Hess
Online Writer
Keith Novosel / Staff Photographer
The Pepperdine Waves’ men’s volleyball team came back from behind in the fifth game to beat the UCSB Gauchos in a 3-2 match Tuesday night at PepperdineÍs Firestone Fieldhouse.
Winning the first two games, second-ranked Pepperdine seemed well on its way to beating seventh-ranked UCSB. The Waves lost their edge in the third and fourth games as the Gauchos rallied back, barely pulling off the wins after coming back from behind.
The fifth game saw Pepperdine come back from a 9-8 UCSB lead with a kill from John Mayer, followed by blocks from John Parfitt and Andy Hein. The Waves clinched the win with another kill from Parfitt and an offensive error by the Gauchos.
UCSBÍs Evan Patak led the match with 28 individual kills, followed by the WavesÍ leader Sean Rooney with 26 kills. PepperdineÍs middle blockers Hein and Tom Hulse paired up with 23 combined kills against the GauchosÍ middle duo Theo Brunner and Michael Kennedy combined total of 26.
Despite five consecutive wins under their belts, the Waves face two tough matches as national champions Brigham Young University comes to Malibu this weekend. The two teams will face off Friday at 7:00pm (PT) and again Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm (PT).
02-09-2005
