Coming off an upset loss against unranked USC, No. 6 Stanford men’s volleyball (9-5, 6-3 MPSF) rebounded to defeat Cal Baptist (3-11, 1-9) on Saturday by a final score of 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-11. This was Stanford’s third five-set comeback win in its past four matches.  

Down 2-1 after a pivotal third set, Stanford held Cal Baptist to a combined .047 hitting percentage in the final two sets while cutting down on offensive errors. The Cardinal would outhit Cal Baptist .356 to .306 for the match. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Ewert and fifth-year senior outside hitter Gabriel Vega combined for 31 of Stanford’s 50 kills. Ewert led the way with 16 kills, while Vega added 15 to go along with a season-high seven digs.

Stanford changed its lineup in the critical fourth and fifth sets, showing a new starting rotation featuring freshman setter Paul Bischoff and freshman outside hitter Eric Beatty. The lineup tweaks worked, as Bischoff followed junior setter Kyle Dagostino’s 19 assists with 20 of his own. Beatty made an impact on offense throughout, hitting .750 with six kills and five digs.

Junior libero Evan Enriques guided the Cardinal defense with five digs and tied his career-high with five assists. Stanford defense shined in the final two sets in particular, keeping the Lancers at bay in the tie-breaking fifth set.

The Cardinal will need a strong defense when they return home to take on No. 3 BYU in a pair of matches next week. The teams will play Thursday at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion and Friday at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.

Contact Laura Anderson at lauraand ‘at’ stanford.edu.