BYU volleyball lost to Pepperdine 3-1 for a second consecutive night in Malibu, California, on Saturday.
BYU’s Phil Fuchs led the team with 22 kills, and Joe Grosh led the night with four blocks and had one ace. However, Pepperdine’s Parker Kalmbach gave the Waves the edge they needed for another win, leading the night with 24 kills and 14 digs.
“Another tough, close road loss tonight,” said Cougar volleyball head coach Chris McGown. “I like the fight our guys showed in the third and fourth sets after being down 2–0 early on. There were a lot of missed opportunities tonight.”
The match was close, as BYU stayed tied with Pepperdine or trailed by one for the entire first set. But kills from the Waves helped them pull ahead far enough for a 26-24 win.
The Waves had an easier time in the second set, taking a 21-13 lead at one point. Three kills and an ace from Fuchs helped the Cougars to close that gap, but it wasn’t enough to stop Kalmbach as he led the Waves to a 25-17 win.
Fuchs put BYU in the lead from the start of the third set, and the Cougars held on to that lead. Jake Langlois extended the lead to four late in the set with three consecutive kills to help the Cougars get to their 25-23 win.
The Cougars kept that effort going into the fourth as they once again led for the entire set until back-to-back kills from Pepperdine’s Josh Taylor tied it up 24-24. Kills from Kalmbach and Grosh kept things tied, but back-to-back BYU errors gave Pepperdine the set 27-25 and the match 3-1.
