Pepperdine Men’s Volleyball hosted the No. 1 ranked Long Beach State at Firestone Fieldhouse on Jan. 26.
Freshman outside hitter Cole Hartke led the Waves with 14 kills and sophomore middle blocker James Eadie followed with 10 of his own, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Graduate setter Gabe Dyer was in charge of 37 of the Waves’ 42 assists. With help from junior libero Jacob Reilly and Hartke with two assists each, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
This was the Waves’ first ranked opponent of the season and nerves were prevalent in the opening set against Long Beach State. Pepperdine was unable to string together consecutive points, leading to a 25-14 first-set loss.
The Waves clawed back and narrowly won the second set by a close 26-24 score after 13 ties throughout the set. The Waves did not stop there as they were able to keep the momentum going into the third set with a decisive 25-17 score.
Pepperdine started the fourth set hot with a 4-1 lead, however, after using their two timeouts early in the set, the Waves would lose steam as the Elbees scored four unanswered points. The Waves lost 25-17 in the fourth set and forced a fifth.
Despite their six serving errors, the Elbees’ immense momentum carried over to the fifth and final set, with the Waves falling short with a final score of 15-7.
The Elbees’ momentum proved too much for the Waves, with Long Beach State scoring 85 points to the Waves’ 52 and 57 kills to the Waves’ 46, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Pepperdine now moves to a 3-1 overall record as they prepare for No. 8 team Loyola Chicago on Jan. 30 at Firestone Fieldhouse.
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Contact Frankie Fernandez via email: frankie.fernandez@pepperdine.edu
