Pepperdine’s victory coincides with celebration of 2005 national championship team
Three Pepperdine Waves men’s volleyball players set career highs in a home victory on the same evening Pepperdine’s2005 national championship-winning squad was honored.
Opposite Matt Mazur, a redshirt freshman, had a career-high 15 kills on a .478 hitting percentage. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker James Eadie had a career-best six total blocks and setter Gabe Dyer, a graduate student, tied his career-high in blocks with four as the Waves defeated the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 3-0 on the court at Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse on Feb. 15.
The 2005 championship Waves bunch was recognized at the match. The alumni from past Waves teams lined the court throughout the contest.
Pepperdine’s victory included set wins of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-23.
The win gave the Waves a 7-3 record heading into their home match against FDU on Friday at 6 p.m. It was also Pepperdine’s fourth victory of the month. The squad had a 3-0 triumph over Lewis University on Feb. 1 and fell to Cal State Northridge 3-1 seven days later. The Waves downed Dominican University of New York the following day 3-0. Pepperdine traveled to Santa Barbara on Feb. 14 and beat UCSB 3-0 and then beat them in Malibu the next day.
Mazur also had two blocks and two service aces in the second victory over UCSB, while Eadie had six kills on a .500 hitting percentage and two digs. Dyer recorded 34 assists and three kills. Additionally, redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ethan Watson had six kills and three blocks and redshirt junior outside hitter Ryan Barnett recorded six kills and four blocks.
Mazur led the Waves with three kills in the first set as the team had a .455 hitting percentage. They held the Gauchos to a hitting percentage of .029 percent. Pepperdine had nine blocks, including four by Eadie. UC Santa Barbara had nine attacking errors, while the Waves only had two.
Pepperdine swung for 16 kills and a .462 hitting percentage in the second set. Mazur recorded eight kills, a block, and a service ace. Junior Jacob Reilly added for digs and five serve receptions.
Mazur hit four kills in the last set, which was a close contest, but the Gauchos had several attacking and service errors. Barnett had three kills, and Reilly was mistake-free in receiving serves. Dyer posted two digs and two blocks.
The Waves host Grand Canyon University, a top 15 ranked team, on Feb. 27 and 28. On March 7, Pepperdine plays second-ranked UC Irvine in Irvine.