Over the weekend, Stanford men’s volleyball (6-11, 3-8 MPSF) remained home in Maples Pavilion to face No. 5 Pepperdine University and Holy Names University. The weekend saw mixed results, with the Cardinal suffering a straight-sweep loss against the Waves (17-25, 19-25, 18-25) and a straight-sweep victory against the Hawks (25-21,25-16, 25-17).
During the first set of the match against Pepperdine, the Cardinal struggled to keep a strong hold on Pepperdine after the first three points had been scored. Stanford soon trailed 3-8 due to slight gaps in defense until it called the first timeout. Post-timeout, Stanford began to pick up speed and close in on the Waves thanks to kills by junior outside hitter Madison Hayden and sophomore outside hitter Gabriel Vega and blocks by senior middle blocker Spencer Haly and Vega. These tactics of utilizing the outside shortened the difference to three points at 9-12, the closest margin of the set.
Despite the efforts, the Cardinal could not catch up to Pepperdine, resulting in a first-set victory for the Waves and setting the match off 1-0.
The second and third set started off very tight, with both teams scoring one after the other. However, in the second set, Pepperdine managed to gain an early lead and kept an average of four to five points ahead of Stanford to secure the second victory set of the night.
In the third set, Stanford put up a stronger fight by working more on keeping a tight defense and getting to the ball more quickly. Unfortunately, this late-game strategy was not enough to overcome the quick offense of the Waves, who eventually claimed victory of the set and the match.
At the end of the game, Vega led the team with 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .474. Hayden was close behind with a total of nine kills and junior James Shaw recorded an impressive 16 assists.
For the match against Holy Names, Stanford demonstrated much more agility and ambition compared to the previous night. The team started off strong, with the focus centered on finding the holes in defense on the opposing team and remaining tight and brick-like to prevent being constantly scored on, leading to victory in the first set.
In the second set, Stanford gained a very early lead with an amazing 10-3 run before Holy Names called a timeout in an attempt to slow down the fast momentum of the Cardinal. After the timeout, Stanford continued to dominate with freshman Clay Jones and junior Conrad Kaminski scoring more kills and freshman Colin McCall landing two service aces. Even though there was some drop in momentum on the Cardinal’s side, the team proved excellent in keeping the Hawks from reaching their position and winning the set.
The third set replicated the playing styles of the second set, with Stanford gaining an early lead and having a 10-3 run. Similar patterns continued between this set and the second set, in which Stanford held great momentum throughout the game with some minor slips. However, Holy Names failed to stop the Cardinal on Stanford’s way to a victorious night, winning the match in three sets.
The victory came about as a result of a remarkable team effort. Jones and senior Daniel Tublin ended the match tied in kills with a solid 10 in total. Freshman Kevin Rakestraw earned a team-high hitting percentage with an impressive .500. Senior Sean Kemper, making his first collegiate start, was also an extremely unexpected highlight, rounding out the defense with an astounding 36 assists.
“I was really happy with how Sean played,” head coach John Kosty said. “He deserved the start tonight and played really well. He ran a really nice offense and gave his hitters a lot of good swings.”
Next weekend, Stanford will remain on the Farm to play against University of California, San Diego, and BYU. The matches will be streamed live at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
Contact Divine Edem at dedem ‘at’ stanford.edu.