Cougars sweep Waves in Firestone Fieldhouse

Zach Eschenberg hits over Pepperdine's block

Malibu, Calif. — No. 2 BYU Cougars sweep No. 4 Pepperdine Waves in Firestone Fieldhouse to complete an undefeated weekend (25-21, 25-14, 25-20). BYU, now 12-2, leads the MPSF conference.

As a team, the Cougars put up a .460 hitting percentage with 39 kills on 63 attempts and 10 errors. Sixteen Pepperdine hitting errors,11.5 total BYU blocks and 21 BYU digs held the Waves to a .208 hitting percentage.

“The guys continued to be aggressive from the service line,” Said head coach Shawn Olmstead. “Our block made some good adjustments that helped our defense”.

KEY PLAYERS

Gabi Garcia Fernandez: 12 kills, .364 hitting percentage, four blocks
Zach Eschenberg: 11 kills, .600 hitting percentage, three blocks
Davide Gardini: 10 kills, .533 hitting percentage, one ace, four blocks
Felipe de Brito Ferreira: One ace, four blocks

SET ONE

The Cougars started the match confident, immediately going on a 5-2 run. The first service ace of the game by Felipe de Brito Ferreira triggered a Pepperdine timeout (BYU 9-4 PEPP). Davide Gardini secured the second and final BYU ace of the day, to give the Cougars the edge at the end of set one (BYU 23-19 PEPP). BYU clinched the set on an Eschenberg kill to win 25-21.

SET TWO

Set two began more balanced than set one with the Waves and Cougars trading points back and forth. BYU took off with the lead after the 6-6 split, staying on top for the remainder of the set. Several errors by Pepperdine and key kills by BYU gave the Cougars the push to close out the set 25-14. BYU hit .684 in set two, for a match high percentage.

SET THREE

The Cougars took advantage of Pepperdine's errors early on to set and keep their lead. At one point BYU went on a 5-0 stretch tying the longest run of the match (BYU 16-9 PEPP). Pepperdine countered coming close to BYU’s lead forcing a Cougar timeout at 21-17. The timeout proved advantageous to BYU who finalized the set 25-20 on a Gardini kill.

Next weekend the Cougars will remain on the road, traveling to Concordia Irvine for a pair of matches March 26 and 27.