April 2, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. - Fourth-ranked Stanford University (11-6 overall, 7-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) dropped a 30-28, 30-25, 30-23 decision to top-ranked Brigham Young University (17-3, 11-3) on Monday night at Maples Pavilion in the first of a two-match set between the schools.
The Cardinal and Cougars will face off again on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. Stanford now holds a three-game lead over both UC Irvine (5-9 MPSF) and UC Santa Barbara with five remaining for the eighth and final spot in the MPSF Playoffs. The Cardinal will play each of its last five matches at Maples Pavilion, including a Friday night match-up with UC Santa Barbara.
Stanford received a match-high 11 kills from sophomore Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS), who returned to the line-up after missing the last three matches because of injury. Sophomore Seth Ring (Bend, OR/Redmond HS) added 10 kills and seven digs, while freshman Billy Clayton (Whittier, CA/Harvard-Westlake HS) hit .692 with nine kills and five service aces, and senior Brett Youngberg hit .438 with eight kills. The Cardinal was without the services of junior Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, CA/Santa Margarita HS), who ranks among the nation's leaders in dig average and kill average, because of a sprained ankle.
The Cougars, who out-blocked the Cardinal 15-4 and finished with a team hitting percentage of .425, received 10 kills, seven blocks and six digs from junior Mike Wall and 10 kills and five digs from junior Joaquin Acosta. BYU also committed just three hitting errors in games two and three combined.
Game one was the closest of the three, with the Cougars needing a late run to come from behind. Stanford trailed 21-17, but reeled off six straight points to take a 23-21 advantage. BYU, however, scored the next five points for a three-point cushion. The Cardinal later scored two unanswered points to creep within 29-28 before BYU closed out the game. The visitors recorded eight of their 15 blocks in that game one victory.
BYU hit .464 with 15 kills and just two errors in game two, and used a 7-2 run midway through the game to pull away. With the score tied at 13-13, the Cougars reeled off seven of the next nine for a 20-15 lead. The Cardinal could get no closer than three points the rest of the way.
The Cougars upped their hitting percentage to .586 in game three - 18 kills and just one error in 29 attempts - to complete the win. Stanford closed to within 24-20 with back-to-back points, but the visitors scored the next three to pull away.