Jan. 11, 2002
Provo, Utah - The Stanford men's volleyball team made a strong statement in opening MPSF conference play Friday night by defeating the defending NCAA Champion BYU Cougars 3-1 (30-27, 31-29, 26-30, 30-19) at the Smith Fieldhouse in front of a capacity 5,334 fans. The Cardinal were led by junior Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA), who finished the match with 22 kills on 39 attempts (.462).
Stanford is now 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the MPSF, while BYU falls to 0-1 and 0-1 in conference play. The loss marked the first season-opening defeat for the Cougars since the 1994 season, ending a streak of eight-straight season-opening victories.
Toppel, who tied BYU's Mike Wall with a match-high 22 kills, also recorded two service aces and two blocks. Senior outside hitter Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, CA) pounded 15 kills and nine digs, while junior Billy Strickland (Malibu, CA) had an outstanding all-around effort with 11 kills, a .400 hitting percentage, 10 digs and five blocks. Freshman setter Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, CA) complimented his 52 assists with three kills and three ace serves.
The Cardinal came out ready to play in game one, hitting .485 (18k, 2e, 33ta) en route to a 30-27 victory. Stanford was able to hold off an even game two, winning 31-29. BYU came back to take game three 30-26, but the Cardinal hit .565 (14k, 1e, 23ta) in the fourth game to seal the win 30-19. Stanford finished with a .365 hitting percentage for the match compared to the Cougars .257 clip. The Cardinal also out-blocked BYU 11-9.
The same two teams will meet tomorrow night at 7 p.m. (MST) at Smith Fieldhouse.
1 2 3 4 STANFORD (2-0, 1-0) 30 31 26 30 BYU (0-1, 1-0) 27 29 30 19