The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament begins on Saturday, but the Pepperdine Waves men’s volleyball team—the MPSF regular-season champions—won’t be taking the floor against an opponent.
The squad earned the weekend off, thanks to their win over visiting Concordia-Irvine on April 6 and UCLA’s loss to USC the same day. The Waves’ win and UCLA’s loss delivered Pepperdine their first conference title since 2014 and a first-round bye in the seven-team MPSF tournament.
Pepperdine coach David Hunt said winning the league championship is a great feeling and something the players deserved.
“Its cool to see what these guys have gone through the last four or five years-—we have a senior-heavy team—so I don’t think hard work has ever been an issue,” he said. “They come in and work hard every day, so it is fun to be around them.”
Pepperdine defeated Concordia on senior night. Before the contest started, the Waves honored the graduating players on their roster. Then, they got to the business of besting the visiting team.
Senior outside hitter David Wieczorek scored the match’s first point, but he didn’t stop with one kill. He registered hit after hit and finished the contest with a game-high 18 kills. His play in the matchup and a Pepperdine win over USC earlier in the week garnered Wieczorek the MPSF Molton Offensive Player of the Week award.
Senior outside hitter Kaleb Denmark, the AVCA National Player of the Week earlier this month, tallied seven kills, five digs and three service aces. Senior opposite Michael Wexter had seven kills, six digs and two service aces. Sophomore setter Robert Mullahey had 33 assists, four block assists and three digs.
Pepperdine will host the lowest remaining seed in the tournament in the MPSF tournament semifinals on April 18.
