Five of the nine national championship banners adorning the walls inside Firestone Fieldhouse belong to the Pepperdine men’s volleyball program, and there could be a sixth in the making.
With last weekend’s victorious sweep of Hawaii, the No. 2-ranked Waves won their first regular season Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship since 2007 and the sixth overall title in the program’s illustrious history. They share the championship this year with Brigham Young University.
While a first-place finish in what is arguably the country’s toughest conference is quite an accomplishment, winning the MPSF Tournament and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships is now the priority at hand.
“We just want to go one practice at a time. We are working really hard,” Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy said. “I’m looking forward to our next opponent. There is a little more meat on the bone left for this year.”
Pepperdine (18-6) will begin the MPSF Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Malibu against Long Beach State (18-9). The Waves have won three MPSF tournament championships since the tournament’s inception in 1993.
The winner advances to the semifinals on April 24 against No. 6 UC Irvine or No. 3 Stanford. The MPSF championship is set for April 26 at a site to be determined.
Other quarterfinal match-ups include No. 8 USC at No. 1 BYU and No. 5 UCLA at No. 4 UC Santa Barbara.
In order to tie BYU for the regular season title, the Waves had to sweep Hawaii (15-12) on back-to-back nights last weekend.
Pepperdine overpowered the Rainbow Warriors on Friday, 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-23) behind junior Josh Taylor, who had a match-high 11 kills, and junior Matt West, who tallied 26 assists and six digs.
Hawaii came out strong on Saturday evening taking the first set, 25-19. But the resilient Waves rallied, claiming the next three sets (28-26, 25-18, 26-24) to win the match, 3-1.
“The first set we didn’t come out fired up enough. But we battled back. The second set we focused on little fundamental skills. We really executed on those things,” Taylor said. “Coming off two wins in a row is big time for us. It carries us into this first quarterfinal match. The momentum is with us and we are just really stoked for Saturday.”
Taylor recorded 18 kills, including the 1000th kill of his career to join an exclusive club of 17 former Pepperdine players.
West contributed 47 assists and redshirt sophomore J.J. Mosolf added 12 kills and 10 digs as the Waves won for the ninth time in their last 10 matches.
“We played really well on Friday night against a good team. And they played really well tonight,” said Dunphy, now in his 31st season at the helm. “But we came back. We are happy with the win. We are a pretty gritty bunch. I’m glad I’m coaching them.”
Prior to the match, Pepperdine recognized Kyle Gerrans, Leonardo Granato and Ryan Plueger on senior night.
“There’s a saying, ‘You’re only as good as your seniors,’” Dunphy said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean they are King Kong out there. All three add an element of class to this program.”
Gerrans had a strong showing on senior night with 12 kills, five digs and five blocks.
“We are a really tight-knit group. The closest team I’ve ever been on. We play really well together,” Gerrans said. “This has been the quickest and best four years of my life. I love these guys. It’s bittersweet. I want to stay here forever, a lot of great memories. But we got playoffs this week. Hopefully we will be on to Chicago.”
The Windy City will host the NCAA Championships at Loyola University from April 29 through May 3. Pepperdine will be looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2008.
But first up is the MPSF Tournament. Then, dreams of a sixth banner can begin.