Pepperdine University’s men’s volleyball team, ranked sixth nationally, is set to host No. 15 UC Santa Barbara this Saturday in Malibu. The match will take place at Firestone Fieldhouse and is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start, with a ceremony honoring the 1986 National Championship team before the first serve.
Earlier this week, Pepperdine began its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) season with a 3-0 win over Vanguard. Ryan Barnett and Cole Hartke each recorded 11 kills, with Barnett achieving a .625 hitting percentage. The game also saw collegiate debuts for Jensen Pascua and Will Whidden.
According to preseason projections, Pepperdine was expected to finish second in the MPSF behind UCLA, tying with USC in the poll but earning more first-place votes than the Trojans. This season marks the final year that Firestone Fieldhouse will serve as home court for the Waves; next year, they will move to The Mountain at Mullin Park, a new arena featuring modern amenities and increased seating capacity.
The Waves have won five NCAA titles and 18 MPSF championships—most recently last year—and are facing one of the most challenging schedules in collegiate volleyball this season. They opened fourth in the AVCA preseason poll behind Long Beach State, Hawai’i, and UCLA.
Several key players return as All-Americans: Ryan Barnett, James Eadie, Cole Hartke, and Jacob Reilly. Over the summer, Barnett earned a silver medal with Team USA’s U23 squad at the Pan American Cup while also competing alongside Reilly on the senior national team. Hartke helped secure bronze at the FIVB U21 World Championship—the best result ever for a U.S. team at that event—and has been recognized as both MPSF Player of the Week (offensive and defensive) and AVCA National Player of the Week.
Grant Lamoureux joins as a redshirt freshman after captaining Team USA’s U19 squad at last summer’s world championship. Ford Harman transferred from Long Beach State after winning silver at the 2025 Men’s Beach Collegiate Challenge; he previously played high school volleyball in Santa Barbara.
International representation on Pepperdine’s roster includes athletes from Cuba, Serbia (Andrej Polomac), and Switzerland. Next year’s recruiting class will add players from Serbia and Czech Republic.
Head coach Jonathan Winder is now in his fourth season leading Pepperdine men’s volleyball after guiding them to an NCAA Final Four appearance last year—the program’s first since 2019—and securing another MPSF title. Winder is himself an alumnus of Pepperdine’s program and won a national title as a player in 2005.
Historically, Pepperdine holds a 77-41 record against UC Santa Barbara—including two wins last season—but suffered its most recent loss to UCSB away in 2023. The Waves have not lost to UCSB at home since dropping a five-set match in 2022.
UC Santa Barbara enters Saturday’s matchup with a 6-3 record; all three losses were against ranked teams. Offensively, George Bruening leads UCSB with an average of 3.5 kills per set while Riggs Guy heads up defense with 1.5 digs per set; Josh Aruya has accumulated thirty blocks so far this season.
Fans can watch Saturday’s game via B1G+ streaming service or follow live statistics on pepperdinewaves.com.
Pepperdine men’s volleyball has achieved five NCAA national championships across its history—with four under Hall of Fame coach Marv Dunphy—and made nineteen NCAA tournament appearances while producing sixty-three All-Americans under various coaches including current head coach Jonathan Winder.
