No. 4 Bruins, No. 5 Waves 2-0 to Start MPSF Action
Photo: David Wieczorek, Pepperdine (Courtesy Pepperdine Athletics)
MPSF Men's Volleyball Weekly Release 6
DAVID WIECZOREK OF PEPPERDINE MPSF/MOLTEN OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Pepperdine senior outside hitter David Wieczorek (Chicago, IL/Loyola Academy) had two huge performances in the Waves’ three-set sweeps of No. 7 BYU and No. 9 Stanford. He hit a combined .571 (26-2-42) over the six sets, averaging 4.33 kills (26 total), 1.33 aces (eight total), 0.83 blocks (five total), and 6.17 points. His .737 hitting percentage against the Cardinal – with zero attack errors – was a career best (min. 10 kills) and the best by a Wave this season. His five aces against the Cougars tied a team-high this season. This is the sixth career MPSF weekly award for Wieczorek. Others Nominated: Daenan Gyimah (UCLA); Gianluca Grasso (USC); Jaylen Jasper (STAN); Gabi Garcia Fernandez (BYU); Chandler Gibb (CUI)…
MATT DOUGLAS OF USC MPSF/MOLTEN DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
USC senior libero Matt Douglas (Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS) helped the Trojans sweep Grand Canyon in the MPSF opener for both teams (Feb. 7). He had a team-best 10 digs (3.33 D/S) and had no reception errors on 11 attempts, while adding five assists. This is the first career MPSF weekly award for Douglas. Others Nominated: Stephen Moye (STAN); Gabi Garcia Fernandez (BYU); Robert Mullahey (PEP)…
NO. 4 UCLA, NO. 5 PEPPERDINE 2-0 TO KICK-OFF MPSF ACTION
No. 4 UCLA (2-0 MPSF/10-2 Overall) battled back from 2-1 down in sets and 20-16 down in the fourth to defeat No. 9 Stanford in five in the MPSF opener (Feb. 7)…the Bruins followed up with a four-set home win over No. 7 BYU last Saturday (Feb. 9)…NCAA hitting leader Daenan Gyimah recorded a career-high 25 kills with an efficient .553 clip against Stanford, the most kills by a Bruin since 2014 (Robart Page, 26)…UCLA served 13 aces vs. BYU, five by Micah Ma’a…Gyimah hit .500 in that win (8-1-14) and served three aces, finishing the week at .539 hitting (33-5-52)…UCLA takes five-straight wins to No. 6 UCSB Wednesday (Feb. 13), followed by top-ranked Long Beach State Saturday (Feb. 16).
No. 5 PEPPERDINE (2-0 MPSF/8-2 Overall) swept both its MPSF openers this past week, defeating No. 7 BYU (Feb. 6) and No. 9 Stanford (Feb. 8)…David Wieczorek totaled 26 kills over the six sets (4.33 K/S) with a blazing .571 (26-2-42) hitting percentage, and served eight aces (1.33 A/S)…he hit an errorless .737 (14-0-19) vs. Stanford…the Waves served 13 aces vs. BYU, five each by Wieczorek and Michael Wexter, and another eight team aces vs. Stanford…Robert Mullahey guided Pepperdine to an efficient offense all week, as the team hit .400 vs. BYU and. 370 vs. Stanford…Pepperdine visits No. 11 CSUN Wednesday (Feb. 13), before playing its first MPSF road match at Grand Canyon Friday (Feb. 15).
No. 14 USC (1-0 MPSF/7-4 Overall) won a straight-set home match in its MPSF opener last Thursday (Feb. 7) over Grand Canyon…Gianluca Grasso recorded 11 kills with a .421 hitting clip, seven digs, and three aces…Matt Douglas collected a team-high 10 digs (3.33 D/S) and was 11-for-11 passing…USC travels to No. 9 Stanford (Feb. 14) and No. 8 BYU (Feb. 16) this week as conference play continues.
CONCORDIA (1-0 MPSF/5-8 Overall) defeated Grand Canyon in its MPSF opener last Saturday (Feb. 9), 3-1…the Eagles have won nine-straight home matches dating back to last year…Chandler Gibb dished a season-high 53 assists while guiding a .350 team offense, and picked up 12 digs for the double-double… Jordan Hoppe put down a career-high 20 kills and Luke Krzmarzick had the best match of his freshman career with 17 kills, eight digs, four blocks and an ace…CUI travels to No. 8 BYU (Feb. 14) and No. 9 Stanford (Feb. 16) this week.
No. 8 BYU (0-2 MPSF/4-4 Overall) dropped its MPSF openers on the road at Pepperdine (Feb. 6) and UCLA (Feb. 9)…Gabi Garcia Fernandez had 11 kills, three aces, three blocks, and seven digs at UCLA…BYU hosts Concordia Thursday (Feb. 14, 7pm MT---BYUtv) and No. 14 USC Saturday (Feb. 16, 7pm MT—BYUtv)…
No. 9 STANFORD (0-2 MPSF/7-5 Overall) dropped its MPSF openers on the road, 3-2 at No. 4 UCLA last Thursday (Feb. 7) and 3-0 at No. 5 Pepperdine last Friday (Feb. 8)…Jaylen Jasper had 20 kills with a .395 clip at UCLA, and finished the week with a .322 clip (28-9-59)… Stephen Moye averaged 1.25 blocks and 2.13 points per set while hitting .450 (12-320)…Stanford hosts No. 14 USC Thursday (Feb. 14, 7pm; Pac-12 Networks) and Concordia Saturday (Feb. 16).
GRAND CANYON (0-2 MPSF/7-7 Overall) fell in its MPSF openers at USC (Feb. 8) and Concordia (Feb. 9)…Cole Udall had a match-high 12 digs and was 20-for-20 passing at USC…David Kisiel had a match-high 22 kills (.286) at CUI…the Antelopes host No. 5 Pepperdine Friday (Feb. 15) in their conference home opener.