Jan. 7, 2002
Stanford, Calif. - Paul Bocage (Princeton, NJ) and Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA) each finished with 12 kills as the Stanford men's volleyball team defeated UC Santa Cruz 3-0 in the Cardinal's season opener on Monday night at Burnham Pavilion. Game scores were 30-14, 30-14 and 30-25.
The Cardinal started the first game on fire, hitting a .667 clip to UC Santa Cruz's .000 and defeated the Banana Slugs 30-14. Juniors Billy Strickland (Malibu, CA) and Bocage each had four kills in game one. Bocage also hit a perfect 4-for-4 with no errors. Redshirt freshman Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, CA) made his presence known in his first career start with three service aces and 12 assists in the first game.
Stanford also dominated the second game, winning by the same score of 30-14. The Cardinal jumped out to a 17-10 lead behind three kills from Bocage and Toppel. The Slugs went on a little run themselves, but Stanford took advantage of Santa Cruz's hitting errors to go up 26-13. Kills by Patrick Bomhack (Waukesha, WI), Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, CA) and Bocage gave the Cardinal game two. Stanford recorded a .553 hitting percentage and played outstanding defense, registering 14 team digs.
Santa Cruz made things interesting and led 10-3 to start the third game. Stanford then went up 13-10 behind the arms of Toppel and Strickland. The Slugs had four hitting errors, as Stanford led 19-15. Both teams traded points and Santa Cruz got to within three 23-26, but a Slug service error and kills by Toppel and Strickland gave the Cardinal the victory, winning game three 30-25.
For the match Bocage and Toppel each finished with 12 kills, while Strickland added eight. Seth Ring (Bend, OR) tallied seven digs for the Cardinal, and Toppel also collected six digs and four blocks. Hansen and Bomhack recorded the assists, finishing with 19 and 13, respectively. As a team, Stanford finished with a .474 hitting percentage and seven team blocks.
The Cardinal return to action this weekend as they open up MPSF conference play in Provo, Utah. Stanford will face Brigham Young on Friday, Jan. 11 and Saturday, Jan. 12. Both matches are schedule to begin at 7 p.m.
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