Jan. 27, 2001
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Marcus Skacel had 20 kills and 10 digs as No. 4 Stanford posted its second upset of a higher-ranked opponent in less than a week, defeating No. 2 UC Santa Barbara 30-22, 31-33, 30-22, 30-25 at Robertson Gym.
Stanford, which also beat then-No. 1 Pepperdine in five games last Sunday, improves to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the MPSF. UC Santa Barbara suffered its first loss of the season and falls to 3-1 and 1-1.
Skacel, who recorded his 10th career double-double and second in the last three matches, finished with a .406 hitting percentage and three block assists. Sophomore opposite Curt Toppel pounded 19 kills with five digs and a pair of aces, while senior middle blocker Brett Youngberg had an outstanding all-around effort with 11 kills, a .667 hitting percentage, five blocks and four digs. Setter Josh Lukens complimented 60 assists with five kills of his own.
Stanford continued its trend of great game one play, hitting .640 (19 k, 3 e, 25 ta) en route to a 30-22 victory. UC Santa Barbara came back to post a 33-31 win in game two, however, the Cardinal outhit the Gauchos .458-.303 while winning each of the final two games. Stanford finished with a .434 hitting percentage for the match, the fourth time in five matches this season that the Cardinal has hit above .400.
The Cardinal is next in action on Friday, Feb. 2, when it hosts California in a 7:00 p.m. exhibition match at Maples Pavilion. Stanford's next regular season contest is Saturday, Feb. 3 at UC Santa Cruz.
Score by Games 1234 No. 4 Stanford (5-0, 3-0)30313030 No. 2 UC Santa Barbara (3-1, 1-1)22332225