No. 5 Pepperdine Men’s Volleyball continued their strong season start with a matchup versus Princeton on Jan. 16, at Firestone Fieldhouse with a 3-0 sweep.
The Waves came into the game riding an impressive three-game win streak all with sweeps. Coming into the season, the Waves had 10 returners, including graduate outside hitter Jaylen Jasper.
Jasper started his season strong — leading the national and MPSF stats in aces, kills, blocks and points, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“We’ve talked about being gritty, really enjoy playing with tremendous passion and joy,” Head Coach Jonathan Winder said. “Also, being resilient. They want to be good. They want to be in the mix at the end of the season, and so we’re going to have to be resilient as we go.”
In the first set, the Waves came out with energy. Jasper set the tone with a kill on the left side, but the Tigers returned the favor after senior outside hitter Brady Wedbush converted on a return, giving the Tigers the 3-2 early lead.
The set would go back and forth, as each team was trying to claw away from the other. The Waves would go on a 7-2 run to gain a 9-6 lead — as redshirt sophomore outside hitter Joe Deluzio capitalized a 62.7 mph serve down the left side.
The offensive aggression would continue as Jasper nailed on back-to-back kills. The Tigers responded with points of their own, but the Waves would take control of the set at 17-13. Junior setter Bryce Dvorak had two heat-seeking missiles down the middle as well, firing up the bench.
The refs tried waving a third ace by Dvorak, but the Waves were able to overturn the call. The Waves won the first set convincingly at 25-17 after Wedbush committed a costly service error.
The Waves had an efficient first set with 14 kills on a .571 hitting percentage.
“Bryce [Dvorak] is doing a really good job moving the ball around,” Winder said. “We’ve passed well and then just continued to get better. I think Jaylen [Jasper], of course, had some really, really impressive matches. But everybody’s been able to contribute.”
To start the second set, the Tigers came out with more intensity. The Waves committed five service errors early, which gave the Tigers momentum, tying the game at five apiece.
The Waves caught their breath as junior middle blocker Anderson Fuller converted on a kill that was successfully challenged, but the Waves committed another costly service error, tying the game at eight. Freshman middle blocker Ryan Vena scored on a kill to give the lead to the Tigers, but Jasper responded with a kill of his own.
“I think we’re just trying to be good over time and keep getting better and find the best version of ourselves down the stretch,” junior libero Trey Cole said. “But, I think one of the big things we’ve been focused on is respecting every team we play and trying to hold our standard regardless of what’s on the other side of the net.”
The seesaw battle continued, but the Waves would clean up their errors later in the set and pull through with a 15-13 lead. Jasper nailed a kill after the crowd’s encouragement and had four kills in the set.
The Tigers tried to claw their way back into the set, and junior outside hitter Ben Harrington and Vena combined on a huge block, cutting the lead to 19-18. Cole was diving on the floor — and his effort resulted in a point for the Waves at 23-22.
The Tigers caught up and threatened the Waves perfect season — as the Tigers caught up. A service error saw Jasper chase down the ball, but he couldn’t catch up. With the score at 24-23 and the crowd at its feet, Fuller responded with a kill – to the crowd’s delight.
“I think it’s always the same,” Deluzio said. “Play our game. I think when we focus less on the other teams doing more what we can control.”
Riding a 2-0 set lead, the Waves came out firing in the third set, setting the tone with a 5-2 lead. After a serve by Deluzio hit the net, the Tigers rallied, but Jasper leaped on the left side and slammed a kill.
The Tigers scored on back-to-back points, but Fuller responded with a kill, extending the Waves’ advantage to 7-5. The Waves offense caught fire, as Fuller and Steele rose up for a block and Jasper nailed his 16th kill of the game to make the lead 10-7.
The Waves went on a 5-1 run, increasing the lead to 14-8, which resulted in a Princeton timeout. Fuller, Deluzio and Dvorak contributed to the points as well as several service errors.
It seemed like the Waves were going to run away with the game, but the Tigers responded with a 3-0 run of their own, trimming the lead to 18-13, which forced the Waves to regroup.
“There’s some confidence in our defensive ability that we hadn’t done too much on the defensive side,” Winder said. “And so, to see the effort and kind of determination to dig some balls and to play in transition was really good.”
The Waves closed out the game with a 6-4 run as they took the third set 25-19.
“I think it’s very easy to win all these matches,” Deluzio said. “I think as long as we stay consistent and stay focused on the next match each and every day, we’re gonna be good.”
The Waves go on a two-game road trip to play Penn State on Friday, Jan. 20.
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Contact Jerry Jiang via Twitter ( @j_jiang30 ) or via email: jerry.jiang@pepperdine.edu
