Malibu, Calif. – No. 11 Pepperdine rejected 16 blocks on its way to a 3-1 (34-32, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19) upset over No. 4 UC Irvine at Firestone Fieldhouse Friday.
The Waves out-blocked the Anteaters 16-7 as UCI hit just .125 for the match (47-31-128). The Waves used defense at the net and 10 aces to offset a .162 hitting performance (44-25-117).
UCI's offensive load was carried by All-American Tamir Hershko with 18 kills. The Anteaters tried several combinations of players, including the season debut of Thomas Hodges who collected seven kills in the final three sets. Middle blocker Andrew Benz was solid with six kills, hitting .455 and recording two blocks. Setter Michael Saeta had four kills, 35 set assists, five digs and two blocks. Libero David Parker had a team-high 10 digs.
Pepperdine was led by Colby Harriman with 16 kills and eight total blocks followed by Matt Tarantino with 11 kills. Tommy Carmody had a match-high 10 blocks, while Weston Barnes had a match-best 15 digs. Soren Dion-Kindem came in to set in relief of injured Joshua Stewart and totaled 35 set assists, six digs and three blocks.
UCI got out to a quick 3-0 start and continued to lead 8-4 after a kill by Reid Dominguez and an ace by Kyle Russell. The Waves would put away three consecutive kills to creep within 10-9, but a kill by Tamir Hershko kept Pepperdine behind 11-9. The Anteaters would hold a 20-15 lead only to watch the Waves score five straight to knot the score at 20-20. A kill by Hershko stopped the run and another would put the Anteaters on top 22-21. A Pepperdine attempt would sail long on the next play to give UCI a 23-21 edge. UCI would hold set point seven times before two consecutive Anteater errors was followed by an ace by Tommy Carmody to give Pepperdine the 34-32 40-minute victory.
Back-to-back blocks by Pepperdine gave the Waves a 5-2 advantage in the second set. Four UCI mistakes and an ace by Pepperdine pushed the Anteater deficit to 12-6. UCI would score four in a row to narrow the gap to 12-10, but Pepperdine would score the next three, 15-10. Pepperdine would never lose control and win the set, 25-21.
Three kills and an ace gave Pepperdine control of the third set 11-9. A kill by Thomas Hodges, an ace by Hershko and Wave attack error tied the score at 14-14. A block by Marty Ross and Tucker Pikula and another Wave attack error gave UCI a slight 17-15 advantage which was short lived as Pepperdine scored the next three to regain an 18-17 lead. Pepperdine would hold a 20-18 lead before UCI caught fire and closed the set scoring the final seven points, 25-20. Three aces by Pikula and two blocks, one a solo, by Saeta were big in the 'Eaters late run.
A UCI attack error, back-to-back aces by David Wieczorek and a block gave Pepperdine a 12-8 cushion in the fourth set. Once again the Pepperdine block was key as it had three blocks in the final 6-1 run to end the match, 25-19.
The Anteaters fall to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the MPSF, while Pepperdine improves to 4-1 on the year and 2-1 in league action.
UCI will jump on a plane and head to No. 8 Stanford for a 7:00 p.m. match tomorrow (Jan. 23) in Burnham Pavilion.
