This past weekend, No. 6 Stanford men’s volleyball (7-1, 5-1 MPSF) extended its impressive start to the season, sweeping the Cal Baptist Lancers (3-6, 0-6) on Friday and dispatching the USC Trojans (1-7, 1-5) in four sets on Sunday.
The Cardinal showcased their dominance as a team as they took on the Lancers without senior outside hitter Madison Hayden, who has been hot of late. With Hayden sidelined for an ankle injury, senior Alex Stephanus started in his place, earning 9 kills, tying his career-high.
Stanford came out strong in the first set but struggled to execute, ceding 8 points on service and attack errors. While the Cardinal maintained the lead from 3-3 onward, the Lancers got back to within a point at 23-22. The Cardinal held them off with consecutive kills from freshman outside hitter Jordan Ewert and junior middle Kevin Rakestraw for a final set score of 25-22.
Although Cal Baptist took the first point of the second set with an ace, the team would not see another lead until the third set. Stephanus notched 5 kills in the set, complemented by 3 kills apiece from Rakestraw and senior middle blocker Conrad Kaminski. A kill from senior outside hitter Gabriel Vega gave Stanford the set, 25-21.
In the third set, the Lancers brought the score within one point at 20-19, but the Cardinal took a 5-2 run to the house, capping off the match with a 25-21 set victory.
The victory was sophomore libero Evan Enriques’ third match this season with double digits in digs (10), and his first facing off against his younger brother Emmett, the starting libero for the Lancers.
The Cardinal’s balanced offense was evidenced by the team’s 44 kills being spread nearly evenly among six players: Stephanus (9), Kaminski (8), Vega (8), Ewert (7), Rakestraw (6) and senior setter James Shaw (6).
On Sunday, the Cardinal traveled to USC’s Galen Center to take on the Trojans with Madison Hayden back on the court.
Stanford got out to a slow start in the first set, allowing the Trojans to take a 5-3 lead, but the Cardinal swiftly tied the score at 7-7 and never looked back, maintaining a lead to take the set 25-20. Hayden led the squad with 5 kills and an ace.
The second set was marred by sloppy play from the Cardinal, which dropped 12 points on 6 service and 6 attack errors. USC was able to easily capitalize, winning the set 25-19 on the strong attack of sophomore opposite Jon Rivera, who was heating up for the Trojans.
Stanford picked it up in the third set, and although USC’s hot-handed Rivera managed 5 early kills, the Cardinal adjusted defensively, blocking many of his later attempts. A balanced attack kept the Cardinal in contention, and they took the set 25-19.
Although the Trojans took a 4-3 lead at the start of the fourth set, Stanford took off an 8-0 tear and never relinquished the momentum, routing the Trojans 25-8 to take the set and the match. USC was plagued by errors, finishing out the set with a -.129 hitting percentage to the Cardinal’s .500.
Shaw tallied 46 assists, spreading out the Cardinal’s attack while executing some effective two-handed tips to keep the Trojan defense on its toes.
Hayden paced the team with 13 kills and 6 digs, along with a season-high 3 service aces. Ewert had his best game yet with the Cardinal, notching a career-high 11 kills.
The Cardinal will finish out their road trip next weekend, taking on No. 2 Long Beach State Friday, Feb. 5, and No. 12 Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Feb. 6. First serve of both games is at 7 p.m.
Contact Olivia Hummer at ohummer ‘at’ stanford.edu.