MPSF Tournament Seeds On The Line This Week
Photo: Kaleb Denmark, Pepperdine (Courtesy Pepperdine Athletics)
MPSF Men's Volleyball Weekly Release 13
KALEB DENMARK OF PEPPERDINE MPSF/MOLTEN OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Pepperdine senior outside hitter Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, CA/Arrowhead Christian Academy) led the Waves with 4.00 kills per set, 4.86 points per set and a .558 hitting percentage (28-4-43) over two victories last week, which moved Pepperdine into a tie for first-place in the MPSF. He posted career-highs of 18 kills and 20.5 points in the four-set win over fifth-ranked UCLA. He entered the week hitting .272 on the season but hit .500 or better in both matches to raise his season percentage to .294. This is the second career MPSF weekly honor for Denmark, after earning defensive recognition.
Others Nominated: Micah Ma’a (UCLA); Gabi Garcia Fernandez (BYU); Gianluca Grasso (USC); Chandler Gibb (CUI); Jordan Ewert (STAN).
KEVIN VAZ OF PEPPERDINE MPSF/MOLTEN DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Pepperdine grad student middle blocker Kevin Vaz (Paris, France/Cal Baptist) was instrumental as the Waves won twice last week to move into a first-place tie in the MPSF, averaging 2.14 blocks per set. He was in on seven of Pepperdine’s 10 blocks during the four-set win over No. 5 UCLA. He then had eight more as the Waves posted a season-high 15.5 blocks against Grand Canyon, helping hold the Antelopes to .042 hitting, the lowest this season by a Pepperdine opponent. Vaz improved his team-leading block average to 1.10 per set. This is the second career MPSF weekly honor for Vaz, after earning his first after week one this year.
Others Nominated: Micah Ma’a (UCLA); Zach Hendrickson (BYU);
Hunter Howell (CUI); Kyle Dagostino (STAN); Matt Douglas (USC)…
MPSF TOURNAMENT SEEDS DETERMINED THIS WEEK
No. 4 PEPPERDINE (7-3 MPSF/18-6 Overall) stayed unbeaten at home this year with a 3-1 outcome over No. 5 UCLA and 3-0 over Grand Canyon last week…The Waves, who have clinched a top-four seed to at the very least host a quarterfinal match, are also in control of their own path for the MPSF Tournament’s No. 1 seed to bypass that round and host the semifinals and championship (Apr. 18-20)…They host USC (Apr. 4) and Concordia (Apr. 6) this week, where two wins guarantee the top seed …Pepperdine also clinches the No. 1 seed with one win along with one loss by both USC and UCLA…Pepperdine holds two-way tiebreakers over UCLA (1-1 matches, 5-4 sets) and BYU (1-1 matches, 4-3 sets).
No. 5 UCLA (7-3 MPSF/17-7 Overall) picked up a four-set home win over Grand Canyon to seal a top-four seed and pull back into a first-place tie with two to play…Concordia visits UCLA (Apr. 4), before the Bruins visit USC (Apr. 6) to finish the regular season…UCLA can be seeded anywhere between one and three for the MPSF Tournament…UCLA can clinch the top seed with two wins this week, along with one Pepperdine loss—or—if the Bruins lose once and Pepperdine loses twice (as long as, if the loss is at USC, the Bruins win a set or stay within 10 total points)…UCLA holds a two-way tie over BYU (1-1 matches, 5-4 sets).
No. 6 USC (6-4 MPSF/15-8 Overall) stayed unbeaten at home last week, defeating No. 6 Stanford in five sets and No. 10 BYU in three, snapping a seven-match losing streak in the series...USC visits No. 4 Pepperdine (Apr. 4) and hosts UCLA (Apr. 6) to finish the regular season…The Trojans would be the MPSF Tournament’s No. 1 seed with two wins, along a Pepperdine win over CUI (USC would hold a two-way tiebreaker over Pepperdine—2-0 in head-on matches)…If involved in a two-way tie with UCLA at the top, USC needs to sweep that match and be at least 12 total points better to clinch the top seed…USC would also hold a three-way tie over Pepperdine and UCLA if each finishes 8-4 in the MPSF (3-1 matches vs. the tied group)…USC holds a two-way tie over BYU (1-1 matches, 4-3 sets), and a three-way with BYU and Stanford by virtue of highest percentage of sets won vs. the tied group (but not a two-way with Stanford by virtue of points).
No. 11 BYU (6-5 MPSF/12-10 Overall) sits in fourth-place, one match above Stanford and one-half match behind USC entering the final week…BYU closes the regular season at Grand Canyon Thursday (Apr. 4)…A win for the Cougars keeps them at home for the MPSF Quarterfinals…BYU can also be elevated to the three seed with a win, along with two USC losses…BYU does not hold any potential tiebreakers against an MPSF team…BYU will be seeded between three and five.
No. 9 STANFORD (5-6 MPSF/14-10 Overall) plays its final regular season match at Grand Canyon (Apr. 6)…Stanford will be seeded either fourth or fifth…The Cardinal will earn the four seed with a win along with a BYU loss—or---with a Cardinal win, a BYU win, and two USC losses…Stanford holds two-way tiebreakers over BYU (1-1 matches, 5-4 sets), USC (1-1 matches, 5-5 sets, 218-212 points, but not the three-way tie with USC and BYU)…Stanford also holds a two-way tie over Concordia (1-1 matches, 4-3 sets).
No. 14 CONCORDIA (3-7 MPSF/14-16 Overall) plays at UCLA (Apr. 4) and Pepperdine (Apr. 6) to end the regular season…For the Eagles to be the six seed, they need one of the following scenarios: two wins—or---one win along with one Grand Canyon loss—or—two losses by GCU…Otherwise, CUI would be the seven seed.
No. RV GRAND CANYON (2-8 MPSF/12-14 Overall) will play its final two regular season matches at home against BYU (Apr. 4) and Stanford (Apr. 6)…The Antelopes, holding a tiebreaker over Concordia (1-1 matches, 4-3 sets) will be the six seed with two wins and at least one Concordia loss—or---one win and two Concordia losses…Otherwise, GCU would be seeded seventh.