Box Score MALIBU, CA – The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball team finished their trip out west with a match up against #10 Pepperdine University. The Waves got off to a strong start, taking the first set 25-11. The next two sets were competitive with several ties and lead changes, but the Waves used late runs to take sets two and three, 25-17, 25-17. With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-3 on the season. 
 
The Waves jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set. The Lions responded well, cutting the lead to 6-4 on a kill by Thijs Van der Wal. A 5-0 run by the Waves gave the home team a 16-7 advantage. An ace by Bryan Povea made it 19-11, Pepperdine and the Waves used a 6-0 run to close out set one with a 25-11 win.
 
In set two, the Lions got off to a strong start, taking a 5-1 lead on kills by Aedan Vanegas and Thijs Van der Wal and a service ace by Greg Bodus. The Waves responded well, cutting the Lions lead to 7-6 but the Lions answered back with a kill by Vanegas and a service ace by Bryan Povea to make it 11-9. The Waves responded with a 3-0 run to take their first lead of the set. The two teams went back and forth trading points and the lead until the Wave used a 10-2 run to take the set, 25-17. 
 
The third set, the Waves jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but the Lions responded well with a kill by Elek Cumming to make it 5-4. The Lions would force an attack error to tie things up at 5-5 and the teams would trade points until the Lions scored two consecutive points on a kill by Truman Tran and a block by Greg Bodus to give Emmanuel a 9-8 advantage. The Waves would retake the lead, 15-12 midway through the set but back-to-back kills by Thijs Van der Wal would make it 15-14. The Waves would close out the set on a 10-3 run to take the set, 25-17. 
 
Overall, the Lions had 20 kills, 19 assists, 2 aces, 4 blocks and 11 digs. Thijs Van der Wal led the way with 8 kills, while Elek Cumming contributed 3. Oliwer Wrobel led the Lions with 13 assists, while Bryan Povea and Greg Bodus each collected an ace. Van der Wal and Bodus led the Lions with 2 blocks a piece, while Josh Staeler led the team with 4 digs. 
 
The Lions will be back in action on Friday with their home opener against Barry University at 1PM and Fort Valley State University at 6PM.
 
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.