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MALIBU, Calif. \u2013 \u00a0The No. 6 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team (4-1) welcomes undefeated Long Beach State (7-0) to Malibu for yet another top-10 showdown in Firestone Fieldhouse Friday night.
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\nLAST TIME OUT
\n\u2022Pepperdine reverse-swept the Lewis Flyers on the road last weekend, coming away from the Windy City 2-0.
\n\u2022 Cole Hartke<\/a> led the team in his home state,\u00a0 hitting .378 with an average of 5.75 through the two matches, including a career-high 35 kills in the reverse-sweep Saturday.
\n\u2022 Hartke swept the conference awards, earning MPSF offensive and defensive player of the week as well as AVCA National Player of the Week.
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\nGAME NOTES
\n\u2022 Pepperdine was projected to finish second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, coming in behind UCLA.
\n\u2022 The Waves tied for second with USC, receiving four first place votes with the Trojans receiving just two.
\n\u2022 This season marks the 56th and final season with Firestone Fieldhouse as the home for Pepperdine Men’s Volleyball
\n\u2022 Pepperdine will move into the Mountain at Mullin Park for the 2026-27 season.
\n\u2022 The Mountain is a new 3,600-seat arena that will give Pepperdine a state-of-the-art competition venue, complete with a 360-degree high-definition scoreboard, VIP and hospitality spaces, and custom team locker rooms.
\n\u2022 Owning 5 NCAA titles and 18 MPSF titles, with the most recent being earned last year, the Waves are no stranger to what it takes to put together a championship-level team.
\n\u2022 With one of the toughest schedules in the NCAA, Pepperdine is setting the season up for success with a NCAA quarterfinal rematch against Loyola Chicago, a semifinal rematch with Long Beach State and a trip to the islands, taking on No. 2 Hawai’i in March.
\n\u2022 After going 2-0 on the road this weekend in Chicago with two top-10 wins over Loyola Chicago and Lewis University, the Pepperdine Waves hold steady at No. 6 in the latest AVCA poll.
\n\u2022 Ryan Barnett<\/a>, James Eadie<\/a>, Cole Hartke<\/a>, and Jacob Reilly<\/a> all return as All-Americans for the Waves.
\n\u2022 Barnett, Hartke, and Reilly all played on some level of the national team this summer.
\n\u2022 Ryan Barnett<\/a> earned a silver medal with the U23 team at the Pan American Cup while also playing on the senior USA team with Jacob Reilly<\/a> in the Pan American Cup.
\n\u2022 Cole Hartke<\/a> earned a bronze in the FIVB World Championship with the U21 team, the farthest the USA has ever gotten in the tournament.
\n\u2022 Redshirting last season, Grant Lamoureux<\/a> is a player to keep an eye out for on this star-studded roster.
\n\u2022 Named the Junior Male Indoor Athlete of the Year this past year, the redshirt freshman brings plenty of experience regardless of never logging collegiate minutes.
\n\u2022 This summer, Lamoureux was a captain of the U19 World Championship squad with team USA where he led the team in kills nearly every time out.
\n\u2022 Redshirt Ford Harman<\/a> transferred into Pepperdine from national-champion Long Beach State.
\n\u2022 This summer, Harman earned a Silver medal at the 2025 Men’s Beach Collegiate Challenge for team USA.
\n\u2022 Harman is originally from Santa Barbara, playing at Santa Barbara HS before college.
\n\u2022 Outside of the United States, the Waves represent three other countries in Cuba, Serbia, and Switzerland.
\n\u2022 Andrej Polomac<\/a>, a transfer from Purdue Fort-Wayne, is the sole Serbian on the squad, brings elite experience as a setter with an average of just under 9 aces per set last season.
\n\u2022 The Waves add even more international experience next year with two of the three commits coming from overseas, bringing another Serbian to Malibu as well as a middle blocker from the Czech Republic.
\n\u2022 In his fourth year at the helm, Winder is coming off his most successful season last year with a run to the final four in the NCAA tournament.
\n\u2022 Last season, Winder led the Waves to an MPSF title, the program’s first since 2019.\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u2022 As the ninth coach at the helm, Winder is an alum of the program himself, earning a National Title with Pepperdine in 2005.
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\nSERIES HISTORY WITH LONG BEACH STATE
\n\u2022 All-time Pepperdine narrowly leads LBSU 52-50, with matches dating back to 1971.\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u2022 Last season, the Waves met the Beach twice throughout the year, losing 2-3 early into the year before falling to the Caliifornia foe 1-3 in the NCAA Championship Semi-finals.\u00a0
\n\u2022 In Malibu, Pepperdine holds a 29-19 advantage.
\n\u2022 Pepperdine has not beat LBSU in over a decade with the last win coming in a 2-0 series sweep during the course of the 2015 season.
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\nSCOUTING THE BEACH
\n\u2022 Sitting at 7-0, the Beach have only gone to four sets in one match, sweeping the other six opponents in three.
\n\u2022 Last time out, LBSU swept the sharks of Long Island at home Jan. 24.
\n\u2022 Offensively, Skyler Varga leads the way on a .416 hitting percentage, tallying 98 points so far for the Beach.
\n\u2022Defensively, Kellen Larson haas a team-high 44 digs with an impressive .989 reception percentage so far this season while Jackson Cryst has a team leading 31 blocks.
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\nFirst serve on Friday is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. PST. Mr. Softee will be provided for the first 100 students in attendance and as the Jr. Waves game, sign making as well as lawn games will be provided pre-match. The match will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required) with live stats available on pepperdinewaves.com<\/a>.
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\nABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
\nPepperdine men’s volleyball boasts one of the richest histories in collegiate volleyball, with five NCAA National Championships. Four of those championships came under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Marv Dunphy<\/a> who totaled 612 victories in 34 seasons at the helm. With 19 NCAA Appearances and 63 All-Americans, the program has consistently been a destination for top talent across the country. Under current head coach Jonathan Winder<\/a>, the Waves reached the NCAA Final Four in his third season at the helm in 2025.
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\nTICKETS
\nFor more information and to purchase tickets to upcoming home events, visit here<\/a>.
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\nFOLLOW
\nTo stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men’s volleyball news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMVB_ .
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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