Jan. 8, 2000
The Stanford men's volleyball team fell to Loyola Marymount, 15-12, 15-6, 15-9, to take fourth place at the 36th Annual UCSB/Elephant Bar Collegiate held at UC Santa Barbara yesterday. The Cardinal were led in the loss by freshmen Kyle Strache (Malibu, Calif.) and William Curtis (Whittier, Calif.), who recorded 13 and 20 kills respectively.
Stanford, the tournament's sixth seed, opened the tournament with victories over California and second seed UC Santa Barbara before falling in the semifinals to second seed Pepperdine. The only match that counted towards Stanford's season record was the third place match with Loyola Marymount.
Playing his first official match at the new Libero position, sophomore Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) tallied a game-high 11 digs for the Cardinal, while freshman Paul Bocage (Princeton, N.J.) had 11 kills and a team-high four block assists. Junior setter Josh Lukens (San Diego, Calif.) led Stanford with 45 assists to along with his nine digs.
The Libero is making its collegiate debut in the 2000 season. The Libero is used primarily as a defensive specialist and can enter the match at anytime as long as it's for a player in the back row. The Libero, who wears a contrasting uniform, is also not allowed to attack, serve or set the ball from within the ten-foot line.
The Cardinal (0-1) will return home on Friday, Jan. 14 for a 7 p.m. match versus UC San Diego. All 11 of this year's matches will be played at Maples Pavilion.