No. 14 Stanford men’s volleyball (3-8, MPSF 2-5) spent the weekend in southern California to play against No. 4 Pepperdine University and Concordia University, Irvine. The Cardinal could not come out with a win in either match, as the team fell to both schools in 3-1 matches and extended their losing streak to four.
During the first set of the Pepperdine match, Stanford started off strong with blocks from redshirt freshman Kevin Rakestraw and senior Daniel Tublin and strategic kills by redshirt freshman Clay Jones, junior Conrad Kaminski, junior James Shaw and Tublin, giving the Cardinal an early 10-5 advantage. Pepperdine recorded a kill right after play resumed after a timeout, but Stanford refused to let this phase its strong early-game momentum. Jones and Shaw continued to tally kills for the Cardinal, pushing the score 14-7, the largest lead in the set.
However, Pepperdine started to come back, gradually chipping away thanks to a more aggressive front row and multiple service errors from Stanford. They eventually closed to within 21-19 before Stanford called its first timeout. Though after squaring up its defense, the Cardinal managed to maintain their lead and win the first set of the match.
The second set proved much more difficult for the Cardinal. Pepperdine grew tougher in its defensive tactics, causing a tight beginning of the set in which the teams scored point for point. Pepperdine gained an early lead, going on a 4-0 run before Stanford called a timeout in efforts to slow down the fast-paced momentum of the Waves. Stanford eventually caught up with nice kills from Rakestraw, Shaw and Tublin, tying the game at 18-18, but the Cardinal failed to close the set in a victory despite tough efforts from its front row hitters.
The third and fourth sets saw a major downturn in Stanford’s playing style. The third set remained tight until Pepperdine found the holes in Stanford’s defense system and launched back-to-back 4-0 runs, giving the Waves a ten-point lead and victory of the third set. The fourth set saw the obliteration of Stanford’s defense with the Cardinal getting very few points in; Pepperdine went on a 12-3 run before Stanford called timeout. Although Stanford managed to score a few points here and there, it was not enough to prevent Pepperdine from winning the fourth and final set and clinching its victory.
In the Concordia match, the first set remained extremely tight until the ninth point when the Eagles broke away from the Cardinal’s grasp, going on a 5-1 run before Stanford called a timeout. Stanford made a comeback, which tied up the game at 14-14, prompting a Concordia timeout. Both teams went kill for kill until the final points in which the Eagles made a block and scored two kills, winning the set.
The second set displayed similar scoring patterns as the first set, with both teams running neck and neck in points and kills until Concordia gained an edge to obtain the lead. The final points of the second set were fought for with vigor from both sides; the set went to 26-24 with a win for the Eagles.
With its back against the wall, in the third set Stanford upped its game immensely with a much tighter defense and more aggressive front row lineup. The hitters made good use of the net by putting up major blocks against Concordia and making strategic kills through the holes of the Eagles’ defense. With intelligent playing tactics, Stanford secured its first set win of the night.
In the fourth set, Stanford started off very strong, scoring the first four points, but Concordia managed to come back and tied it up shortly thereafter. The Cardinal held off the Eagles for as long as its players could until Concordia eventually gained and maintained its lead over Stanford, winning the set and the match.
Final: Concordia 3, @StanfordMVB 1 (25-20, 26-24, 20-25, 25-18). Card drops to 3-8 on the year #vbscores #GoStanford
— Men’s Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) February 8, 2015
Shaw led the team against Pepperdine with an astounding 18 kills and a team-high hitting percentage of .394 in addition to his seven digs and two blocks. Conrad Kaminski followed close behind with a hitting percentage of .357. Freshman Kyle Dagostino recorded an impressive 41 assists for the Cardinal.
For the Concordia match, junior Madison Hayden led the team with a career-high 20 kills and a .349 hitting percentage. Dagostino nearly matched his stats from the previous match with 40 assists.
After a brief return back north, Stanford will travel again to southern California next Friday and Saturday to play against UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Contact Divine Edem at dedem ‘at’ stanford.edu.