The Stanford men’s volleyball team (3-5, 2-3 MPSF) began its longest road sequence of the year Thursday evening.  A trip to Westwood to face UCLA was the first challenge, with the Cardinal succumbing to a young UCLA outfit 3-0. The final scoreline did no justice to the Cardinal, who lost all three sets by a combined 8 points.  Losing seven seniors last year usually leaves the Cardinal trailing their opponents for experience, but not that night.  The Bruins fielded 13 underclassmen among their 16 players, putting the teams on even footing.

The first set began auspiciously for the Cardinal.  Junior outside Madison Hayden and sophomore outside Clay Jones keyed three early 3-point runs that put Stanford up 13-10.  But UCLA would respond, feeding on consecutive service aces by middle blocker Mitch Stahl to close the lead down to 16-15.  It was a sloppy set up to that point, with both teams barely scraping together positive hitting percentages.  The attack on both sides would pick up, though. Jones, making his second straight start at outside hitter, had his fourth, fifth and sixth kills of the evening at 18-16, 19-16 and 20-18.  Fellow outside, senior Daniel Tublin would give the Cardinal match point at 24-23.  But Stanford failed to capitalize, and UCLA would win the set 27-25.

With the early momentum somewhat stolen from the Cardinal, the Bruins ran out to a 12-9 lead in the second set.  After a Stanford timeout, though, the Clay Jones show resumed.  He tallied his ninth and tenth kills of the night to retake the lead for the Cardinal at 15-14.  He was hitting a perfect 1.000 up to this point, putting on an incredible display of attacking talent. UCLA was tenacious, though, stringing another Stahl ace together with kills from middle Trent Kersten and outside JT Hatch to capture a 20-18 lead.  Jones, truly a one-man team tonight, would power home an ace to tie the score at 21.  But UCLA, as they did all night, had one more run in them.  Opposite Christian Hessenauer had 2 kills and Stanford committed two errors to give UCLA the second set, 25-22.

Having lost two tight sets, a deflated Stanford team took the court in set 3.  Lackadaisical play from the Cardinal saw them down 7-3, forcing head coach John Kosty to use an early timeout.  Stanford crept back into the game after that, coming within 15-13 on kills from Tublin and Jones.  UCLA would push the lead back out to 18-13 thanks to two Stanford errors, but the Cardinal had one more shot at 23-17.  Jones and sophomore middle Kevin Rakestraw, making an appearance in this set, had three kills and a block between them to draw within three at 24-21.  But a Tublin service error doomed the Card on match point, and they fell 25-21 to end the night.

It wasn’t hard to find bright spots on the night for the Cardinal.  Junior setter James Shaw had 25 assists, 6 digs and 3 kills. Jones was the best player on the court for either team, a refreshing change of pace for a Stanford side that has seen precious little production from its pin hitters thus far. Not often will his hitting counterparts Hayden and Tublin hit sub-zero percentages, so if Jones can retain this form, the Cardinal’s ceiling just got considerably higher.  Junior middle Conrad Kaminski was his usual efficient self, posting 7 kills on 14 attacks.  Rakestraw’s blocking late in the third set was cause for optimism as well.

Being able to keep pace with UCLA despite hitting just .165 overall shows the blocking and defense are there.  The emergence of Jones on the outside will be critical to future success.  By providing a genuine threat on the outside, Shaw will be better able to diversify the offense.  Hayden and Tublin will draw less attention as they look to bump up their kill totals, and the middle will open up for Spencer Haly and the All-American Kaminski.

Stanford will stay south of campus for a trip to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.  The Gauchos own just one MPSF win on the year, so Stanford will look to capitalize on the road and get a much-needed boost up the standings.  With visits to title challengers Pepperdine and UC Irvine on tap over the next two weeks, points will be at a premium for the Cardinal.

Contact Kevin Bishop at kbishop ‘at’ stanford.edu.