GREG BARNETT
Sports Editor
The No.-5 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team won its only non-conference match of the season Saturday night by beating California Baptist University, 3-1 (30-25, 28-30, 30-22, 30-23). With the win, the Waves improved to 10-8 overall and now look forward to finishing the season with six straight conference matches at home.
“It was important that we got a match under our belt before this conference home stretch,” Head Coach Marv Dunphy said. “Your next match is your most important match, so Stanford is our most important match, and we’ll be ready for this stretch run.”
The Waves were led by junior opposite Paul Carroll, who posted a match-high 25 kills and tallied 4 service aces. It was the fifth time in six matches Carroll reached the 25-kill mark.
Freshman middle blocker Tyler Jaynes contributed to the win with a remarkable 14 kills on 16 errorless attempts for a .875 hitting percentage. If Jaynes’ last attempt had been a kill, he would have broken the school record held by Andy Hein, who hit .909 in a match in 2005.
“It was exciting,” Jaynes said. “It was fun to be able to get some balls to go down.”
Senior setter Jonathan Winder tallied 52 assists and a match-high 9 digs while junior outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach had 16 kills. Finally, freshman outside hitter Cory Rieks added 14 kills.
Dunphy said the team’s serving has improved lately, and it showed when his squad amassed 11 service aces against the Lancers.
“We’ve spent a lot of time this week serving in practice,” Winder said. “I think that helps in getting our confidence up and to be able to go after it a little bit more.”
The Lancers started off well against the Waves by hitting .480 in game one compared to Pepperdine’s .405. However, 12 kills from Carroll and Rieks in the game contributed to a 22-14 advantage in kills. The game was tied 9-9 before kills by Jaynes, Schleppenbach and Carroll gave the Waves a 12-9 lead. Pepperdine never looked back and took the game, 30-25.
Both teams struggled on offense in game two, hitting identical percentages of .194. The Waves fell behind early, 6-2, but fought back to take the lead, 21-18, after winning five straight points. The Lancers called a timeout and tied the match, 25-25, before retaking the lead, 27-26. A Winder service error won the game for the Lancers, 30-28.
In games three and four, the Waves turned up the heat and hit an incredible .708 in game three and .533 in game four. Pepperdine grabbed the lead early in both games and never looked back, winning them 30-22 and 30-23, respectively.
The Waves continue their six-match home stand Friday night when they host Stanford at 7 p.m. The following day, the Pacific Tigers travel to Firestone to take on Pepperdine at 7 p.m.
03-27-2008