Second efforts and a first-year player boosted seventh-ranked Pepperdine to a 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20 volleyball victory over Hawaii on Friday night in the Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.
The Waves rebounded from a sluggish first set to surge to their fourth consecutive victory.
Freshman outside hitter Josh Taylor, a 2011 Punahou graduate, led the Waves with a match-high 18 kills in 31 swings.
Steven Hunt, a senior co-captain and outside hitter, buried 20 kills for the Warriors.
It appeared the Warriors had adjusted in their first road match of the season. They dominated all phases in the first set. But it wouldn’t last.
Taylor was a force on both sides of the net, blasting line and angle shots off and over the UH block. Taylor hit .419 and contributed to four of the Waves’ 14.5 blocks. He made two solo rejections.
Taylor was the one who got away. As a junior in 2010, he was regarded as Hawaii’s top volleyball player. He did not play in 2011 because of eligibility-clock issues and a broken hand.
He initially committed to USC, then changed his mind, and pledged to Pepperdine. Friday night, he changed the tone of the match with his powerful swing and mobile defense.
Taylor’s presence opened the way for Chase Ross, who blasted 10 kills and hit .409.
The Waves’ decent passes gave freshman setter Matt West the option to the quick attackers. Middle blocker Matt Pollard had 12 kills (against no errors) and hit .667.
Pepperdine middle Nikota Antonijevic struggled early. Joel Lopata, undersized at 6-5, started the second set and produced a career-high five blocks. Antonijevic started the final two sets.
The Warriors were not so fortunate in their search for the right combination. Opposite attacker Johann Timmer had problems in the middle sets. Taylor Averill, a transfer from UC Irvine, started at opposite in the fourth set. Timmer was used as a pinch-server in the fourth set, but still finished with three kills and six errors in 15 swings.
Left-side hitter J.P. Marks’ 10 kills were offset by eight errors.
In the final three sets, the Waves produced significant runs. In the third set, they scored seven in a row to overcome a 4-1 deficit. In the fourth set, a 4-0 run boosted their lead to 20-13.
The Waves hit .194 in the first set, and .370 thereafter.
The Warriors went in the opposite direction, hitting .265 in the opening set and then .182 in the final three.
¯¯¯¯¯
MPSF STANDINGS
| |
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
All |
| BYU |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
— |
5-1 |
| Pepperdine |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
— |
4-1 |
| UCLA |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
1 |
6-1 |
| USC |
2 |
1 |
.666 |
1 |
3-1 |
| Stanford |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
112 |
3-1 |
| Pacific |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
112 |
3-2 |
| UC San Diego |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
112 |
2-3 |
| Hawaii |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
2 |
2-4 |
| CSU Northridge |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
2 |
2-4 |
| UC Santa Barbara |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
2 |
2-3 |
| UC Irvine |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
212 |
4-2 |
| Long Beach St. |
0 |
3 |
.000 |
3 |
2-4 |
Friday
Pepperdine def. Hawaii 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20
BYU def. USC 25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 25-20
UCLA def. Stanford 25-23, 25-22, 25-17
Pacific def. UC Santa Barbara 25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 25-13
CS Northridge def. Long Beach State 15-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 15-11
Today
UC San Diego at UC Irvine
Hawaii at Pepperdine, 6:30 p.m.
Stanford at UC Santa Barbara
USC at BYU
Pacific at UCLA
NO. 7 PEPPERDINE DEF. NO. 12 HAWAII 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20
RAINBOW WARRIORS (2-4, 1-2 MPSF)
| |
S |
K |
E |
ATT |
PCT |
D |
BS |
BA |
PTS |
| Biscaro |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1.000 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
3.5 |
| Hunt |
4 |
20 |
7 |
39 |
.333 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
20.5 |
| Timmer |
4 |
3 |
6 |
15 |
-.200 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4.0 |
| West |
4 |
6 |
2 |
12 |
.333 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6.5 |
| Lofy |
4 |
4 |
0 |
10 |
.400 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
5.0 |
| Marks |
4 |
10 |
8 |
26 |
.077 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
11.5 |
| Castello |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Phelps |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Sedore |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.0 |
| Averill |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
.200 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2.0 |
| Crutchfield |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lile |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Totals |
4 |
48 |
25 |
111 |
.207 |
32 |
0 |
6 |
54.0 |
WAVES (4-1, 3-0 MPSF)
| |
S |
K |
E |
ATT |
PCT |
D |
BS |
BA |
PTS |
| West |
4 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.500 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
3.0 |
| Antonijevic |
3 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
-.143 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4.0 |
| Pollock |
4 |
12 |
0 |
18 |
.667 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
13.5 |
| Ross |
4 |
10 |
1 |
22 |
.409 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
12.0 |
| Torres |
4 |
7 |
8 |
23 |
-.043 |
8 |
1 |
5 |
12.5 |
| Taylor |
4 |
18 |
5 |
31 |
.419 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
22.0 |
| McMahon |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Gerrans |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Lopata |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
2.5 |
|
| Totals |
4 |
50 |
17 |
104 |
.317 |
31 |
4 |
21 |
69.5 |
Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — Hawaii 3 (Biscaro, Timer, Marks). Pepperdine 5 (Torres 2, Antonijevic, Ross, Taylor). Service errors — Hawaii 15 (Biscaro 5, West 4, Marks 3, Hunt 2, Timmer). Pepperdine 13 (Torres 4, Taylor 3, Ross 2, West, Antonijevic, Pollock, Lopata). Assists — Hawaii 46 (Biscaro 37, Castello 2, Lile 3, Hunt, Timmer, Lofy, Marks). Pepperdine 48 (West 43, Torres 2, Pollock, McMahon, Lopata). T — 1:57. Officials — Tony Chan, Lydia Godshall. A — 583.
