Pepperdine Men’s Volleyball defeated the University of Southern California Trojans 3-1 to clinch the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title Saturday, April 26, at Firestone Fieldhouse. This victory gives the Waves an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This victory comes after the Waves beat Grand Canyon University on April 24, and University of California, Los Angeles on April 25, in the tournament. The leading scorers for the Waves were redshirt junior outside hitter Ryan Barnett, sophomore outside hitter Ilay Haver and freshman outside hitter Cole Hartke with 23, 11 and 8 kills, respectively.
Throughout the entire first set, both teams kept it neck-and-neck as the largest lead for either team was two points. With the score tied up 24-24, Barnett got a kill to put the Waves ahead, and then a block from Pepperdine secured the first set victory for the Waves.
Similar to the first set, the second set started with each team keeping it close until Pepperdine went on a 5-1 run to jump to a 19-13 lead. The Trojans started to climb back from the deficit, but Pepperdine scored four unanswered points and eventually won 25-20.
After USC won the third set, the Waves and Trojans battled closely throughout the fourth set. With the score tied 17-17, Pepperdine stepped up, scoring three points and never looking back as they secured the set, match, tournament and conference with a 25-21 victory. The rest of the team came sprinting off the bench and celebrated their victory on the court.
This will be the team’s first time in the NCAA tournament since 2022, according to Pepperdine Athletics. In the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the Waves lost in the tournaments first round.
Pepperdine’s next match will be against Loyola Chicago on May 5, in Columbus, Ohio for the NCAA Quarterfinals.
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Contact Tony Gleason on Twitter (@tony__gleason) or via email: anthony.gleason@pepperdine.edu