The No. 2 Stanford men’s volleyball team faced two top-five ranked teams this past weekend, No. 4 Pepperdine and No. 3 USC, and came out with a split. The Card dropped a three-set match to the Pepperdine Waves (30-28, 30-27, 30-27) and picked up a 3-1 win against the USC Trojans (30-16, 30-28, 28-30, 30-23).
On Friday night at Pepperdine, senior opposite hitter Evan Romero hit a team-high 19 kills. Following close behind, sophomore outside hitter Brad Lawson registered 16 kills on the night. Junior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin was the only other Cardinal to hit the double digits with 11, while senior setter Kawika Shoji had 52 assists.
Early on in the first set, Stanford fell behind 9-6, but sophomore middle blocker Gus Ellis helped even the score at 10-all. The Cardinal hung in with Pepperdine from then on as Romero, Lawson and Ellis tried to give Stanford the edge. Pepperdine’s Maurice Torres and Cory Riecks battled back, keeping the Waves within a point of Stanford. The two hit 15 and 17 kills in the match, respectively. A Stanford error ended the set, 30-28.
Into the second set, Stanford held the slight advantage and came out firing with Lawson and McLachlin. Senior middle blocker Garrett Werner connected on a few sets with Shoji as well, but midway through the set, Pepperdine began to take over. With Pepperdine up 16-15, Romero and McLachlin attempted to regain the lead, but Pepperdine’s Rodnei Santos and J.D. Schleppenbach pounded in kills and extended the Waves’ lead to 20-17. Lawson brought the Card within one at 28-27, but Schleppenbach and Torres finished it off to take the set, 30-27.
With a chance to redeem itself, the Card kept it close during the third set. Ellis, McLachlin and Lawson tied it up early at two, five and seven. Stanford would see a lead at 10-9, following a Pepperdine service error, Lawson ace and a Lawson kill. The Waves answered back, however, and took a 14-11 lead. A kill by Pepperdine’s Riecks left Stanford trailing 20-15. Although the Card was within one point on six different occasions, the team was bested by Pepperdine and a Santos kill ended the night at 30-27.
Maybe it was a new spark or an old debt to pay, but the Card came out in full force against USC. Lawson hit a team season-high of 29 kills, and Romero and McLachlin recorded 17 and 14 on the night, respectively.
The Card came out running in the first set to take a 6-1 lead. Trojan hitters Tony Ciarelli and Austin Zahn answered back with a pair of kills each, but Romero, Ellis and McLachlin shut them down at 12-5, forcing a time out. Lawson and Werner continued the fight against USC, which at one point resulted in a 13-point lead at 26-13. The first set ended, 30-16, with a kill by Ellis followed by a USC error.
USC fought back in the second set, but Stanford maintained its edge. Ciarelli helped get the Trojans within one at 10-9, but McLachlin kept Stanford ahead. Trojan Steven Shandrick took the lead back for USC at 22-21, and Cardinal errors continued the Trojans’ run. The Cardinal took back the lead on a Romero service ace, and a McLachlin kill combined with a Trojan error gave the set to Stanford, 30-28.
Stanford dominated most of the third set and held the lead over the Trojans at 20-19. A back and forth battle ensued up until USC’s Zahn put the Trojans ahead. A Cardinal error and a Ciarelli kill polished off the set at 30-28.
Into the fourth set, Stanford started out reenergized and ready to finish off the match. Lawson, McLachlin and Shoji all added in kills for an initial lead. USC’s Tri Bourne tied it up at 10, but Lawson hit a kill for the 13-11 lead. A spread offense with Lawson, Romero and Werner lifted the Card to a 20-16 lead. At 27-22, Romero hammered in a kill and USC followed with two errors to end the match at 30-23.
With this split weekend, Stanford is now 8-4 overall and 7-4 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
This week, the Cardinal will face UC-Santa Cruz on Wednesday and Pacific on Friday.