Sports

Waves Postseason Run Ends in NCAA Semifinals

 COLUMBUS, Ohio – The #6 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team saw its remarkable postseason run come to an end Saturday night in the NCAA Championship semifinals, falling to #1 Long Beach State in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 23-25) at the Covelli Center.   Despite the loss, Pepperdine put together one of […]

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 COLUMBUS, Ohio – The #6 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team saw its remarkable postseason run come to an end Saturday night in the NCAA Championship semifinals, falling to #1 Long Beach State in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 23-25) at the Covelli Center.
 
Despite the loss, Pepperdine put together one of its most impressive offensive performances of the season, hitting .421 as a team. The Waves recorded 53 kills to just eight errors and tallied 52 assists and 31 digs. Reilly led the team with nine digs while Haver hit a sparkling .545 on 14 kills.
 
The match marked Pepperdine’s return to the national semifinals for the first time since 2019 (17th time in the semifinal round) and capped a season highlighted by marquee wins over UCLA and USC, an MPSF Tournament title, and five All-American honorees.
 
WAVES BY SET
 








Set K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 13 2 23 .478 18-21 85%
2 13 1 29 .414 18-24 75%
3 10 2 21 .381 17-25 68%
4 17 3 34 .412 18-24 75%

 
BEACH BY SET
 








Set K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 11 4 26 .269 17-24 70%
2 19 5 34 .412 19-24 79%
3 18 0 25 .720 17-19 89%
4 18 2 29 .552 19-24 79%

 
BIG WAVES
Ryan Barnett (R-Jr./Westhampton Beach, N.Y.): 13 kills, .5357 hitting, 1 ace, 2 digs
Cole Hartke (Fr./Barrington, Ill.): 13 kills, .333 hitting, 4 digs, 2 aces
Ilay Haver (Jr./Tel Aviv, Israel): 14 kills, .545 hitting, 4 digs
Gabriel Dyer (Gr./San Clemente, Calif.): 48 assists, 8 digs
Jacob Reilly (Jr./Cypress, Texas): 9 digs, just 1 reception error on 25 attempts
 
The Waves (21-10) came out hitting .478 in the opening frame and taking early control behind a strong serving presence and balanced offense. Ilay Haver led the first-set charge with five kills, while Cole Hartke added four. Pepperdine closed the set 25-20, capped by a kill from Ethan Watson.
 
In set two, the Waves stayed composed through 15 tie scores and battled to a 23-23 deadlock. Despite three kills from Barnett and four from Watson and a clutch ace from the former, Long Beach State capitalized on a late Pepperdine service error to go up by two even the match.
 
The third set marked a turning point. Long Beach State hit an error-free .720, and although the Waves received timely kills from Watson, Barnett and Haver, they couldn’t overcome the offensive surge and fell behind 2-1 in the match.
 
Pepperdine mounted a gritty comeback attempt in the fourth. After trailing 22-19, the Waves fought back to just a step behind LBSU with kills from Haver, Barnett, and Hartke. However, Long Beach State responded with consecutive points, including a final kill from Nato Dickinson, to seal the match.
 
STAY CONNECTED
Keep up with all things Pepperdine Athletics by following the Waves on X and Instagram and find more on PepperdineWaves.com.
 
 





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