Top-ranked Pepperdine surged from a 2-1 deficit to defeat sixth-ranked University of Hawai'i, 30-24, 27-30, 26-30, 30-19, 15-8, last night in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball match in Malibu, Calif.

A crowd of 1,042 at the Firestone Fieldhouse saw John Parfitt amass 21 kills, Paul Carroll add 15 and Andy Hein 11 for Pepperdine. The Waves hit .433 for the match in improving to 7-1 both overall and in the MPSF.

José José Delgado had 19 kills, Matt Carere 17 and Lauri Hakala 13 for the Warriors, who hit .287 and fell to 4-4 and 2-3.

"The team did well at times, and didn't play well at times," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "It was one of those kinds of matches."

The Waves dominated Game 1 after scoring three consecutive points to break a 5-all tie. In that game, the Waves hit .536 while holding the Warriors to .258.

"We didn't start off so good, but then we got on our game, and we played well in Games 2 and 3," Wilton said.

The turnaround could be traced to stabilized passing.

"In Game 4, they stepped up and we stepped back, I think, a little bit," Wilton said. "They amped up their serving in Game 4, and I thought we weren't up to the challenge."

Pepperdine seized control in the first-to-15 fifth game. Tied at 3, the Waves scored five unanswered points.

"It was close for a while in Game 5, and then it got away from us," Wilton said. "We just couldn't sideout."

UH has lost the opening match in each of its two-match series this season. The goal for tonight's rematch, Wilton said, is "to come out really motivated and give it everything we've got. We were really tense."