Pepperdine Hosts USC For MPSF Championship
Photo: Pepperdine's Firestone Fieldhouse (Courtesy Pepperdine Athletics)
MPSF Championship: Saturday, April 20 (7:00 pm PT)
Host: No. 1 seed Pepperdine
Firestone Fieldhouse (3,104); Malibu, Calif.
Live Video (Subscription):
https://mpsports.org/watch
Live Stats:
https://pepperdinewaves.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
No. 3 seed USC (18-9) at No. 1 seed Pepperdine (21-6)
2019 Series: Tied 1-1 (USC 3-1 @ USC & PEP 3-0 @ PEP)
Pepperdine's MPSF Championships: 4 (2008, 2005, 2002, 1998)
USC's MPSF Championships: 1 (2009)
MPSF Semifinals: Thursday, April 18
Host: No. 1 seed Pepperdine
Firestone Fieldhouse (3,104); Malibu, Calif
No. 3 seed USC 3, No. 2 seed UCLA 1 (25-21, 25-18, 25-27, 25-23)
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Recap by USC
Jack Wyett had 21 kills while hitting .581 to lead the No. 5-ranked USC men’s volleyball team to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-27, 25-23 win over No. 6 UCLA in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament semifinal match on Thursday (April 18) at Pepperdine.
USC improved to 18-9 overall and has won 11 of its last 13 matches. It was Troy’s second win over the Bruins in 3 meetings in 2019, giving USC 10 points in the schools’ annual Crosstown Cup all-sports competition. The Trojans now are 5-1 on neutral courts this season.
UCLA fell to 19-9 overall.
The Trojans now advance to the MPSF tourney championship match against host No. 4 Pepperdine (21-6) on Saturday (April 20) at 7 p.m. PT. The Waves, who swept BYU in the other semifinal match, are the tourney’s top seed, while the Trojans are the third seed. Last year, USC defeated Pepperdine in Malibu in an MPSF Tournament quarterfinal match.
The MPSF tourney champ will get an automatic bid into the upcoming 7-team NCAA Championship, while the runner-up will be in the running for an at-large bid into the NCAAs.
USC will be looking for just its second MPSF Tournament championship, with the first coming in 2009. Overall dating to 1971, USC has won conference or regional championships.
USC hit .350 in the match to UCLA’s .241. The Bruins served 7 aces.
Gianluca Grasso added 11 kills, 8 digs and 3 aces for USC, while Ryan Moss had 9 killls, 5 digs and 3 blocks and Matt Douglas had 11 digs.
Dylan Missry led UCLA with 14 kills (hitting .462), Daenan Gyimah added 10 kills and Micah Ma’a had 8 kills and 3 aces.
USC steadily marched out to a 14-9 lead in the first set, but UCLA then scored 8 of the next 10 points to move ahead 17-16 before USC restored order by going on a 3-point run to move ahead 22-19, all the cushion it needed to capture the set. USC got off to a quick 7-5 lead in the second set and built it to 17-13, a margin the Bruins could not overcome as Troy hit .522 in the set. USC forged a 9-5 margin in the third set but UCLA tied it at 13-13 and moved ahead at 15-14, however the Trojans fought back to go up 20-18 only to see the Bruins keep tying it back up before UCLA captured the set’s final 2 points. UCLA used a 4-point run to go up 8-6 in the fourth set and then moved out to a 13-7 edge, but soon after USC scored 9 unanswered points to re-take the lead at 19-16, however UCLA caught up at 21-21 before USC steadied itself by scoring 3 of the final 4 points for the win.
at No. 1 seed Pepperdine 3, No. 5 seed BYU 0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-18)
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Recap by Pepperdine
MALIBU, California – David Wieczorek and Michael Wexter combined for 28 of the Waves’ 40 kills as the top-seeded and fourth-ranked Pepperdine men’s volleyball team swept BYU, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18, in Thursday’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals.
The Waves (21-6) now advance to Saturday’s championship match in Firestone Fieldhouse against either USC or UCLA. The fifth-seeded and 12th-ranked Cougars end their season with a 13-12 record.
Pepperdine, the MPSF’s regular-season champion, will be trying to add its first MPSF Tournament title since 2008.
Senior outside hitter David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) had a match-high 16 kills on .520 hitting (16-3-25). He also had three digs.
Senior opposite Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS) added 12 kills while hitting .579 (12-1-19). He had a pair of service aces and six digs.
Senior outside hitter Kaleb Denmark (Redlands, Calif./Arrowhead Christian Academy) contributed seven kills, four digs and an ace.
Sophomore setter Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) handed out 32 assists and posted five digs.
Senior middle blocker Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS) had three kills, three aces, two digs and two blocks.
MATCH STATS
- PEPP hitting: .392 overall (.393 set one, .174 set two, .609 set three)
- BYU hitting: .217 overall (.200 set one, .136 set two, .318 set three)
- Service Aces: PEPP 7, BYU 2
- Digs: PEPP 24, BYU 18
- Blocks: PEPP 2.0, BYU 5.0
- BYU was led by Davide Gardini and Gabi Garcia Fernandez, who had 10 kills apiece.