April 20, 2002
Provo, Utah - The sixth-ranked Stanford men's volleyball team came back from a two-game deficit to force a fifth game, but fell in the final game 21-19 to drop a 3-2 (30-24, 30-23, 24-30, 29-31, 21-19) first round Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoff match to BYU on Saturday night in Smith Fieldhouse. The Cardinal conclude their 2002 season with a 16-10 overall mark and 15-7 in conference play.
Paul Bocage (Princeton, NJ) tied the first game at 2-2, but it was as close as the Cardinal would get. BYU's Chris Gorny followed with a kill and the Cougars never gave up the lead as they cruised to a 30-24 game one victory. Billy Strickland (Malibu, CA) and Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA) led the Cardinal with five and three kills, respectively. The Cougars used five players with four kills apiece to go up 1-0.
BYU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in game two and Stanford could only get as close as 20-18 on a kill by Strickland. Mike Wall and Joaquin Acosta then took over the game to give BYU a 30-23 victory and a 2-0 lead. Kyle Strache (Malibu, CA) provided the Cardinal with three kills, but Wall registered eight for the Cougars as they hit a .577 clip for the game.
Stanford came out hot in game three and managed to take its first lead of the match on a service ace by Bocage to go up 7-6. The Cardinal then kept a three point lead until a kill by Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, CA) put Stanford in command 17-13. BYU fought back and came within 21-19, but a Bocage kill and Cougar hitting errors allowed the Cardinal hold a 24-19 advantage. Strache and Toppel each recorded a kill and Strickland and Bocage connected for a block assist to give Stanford game point. Toppel hit one down the line to give the Cardinal a 30-24 game three win. Chris Sandman (San Jose, CA) came off the bench to record four kills for the Cardinal.
The Cardinal rattled off consecutive points to grab an early 7-4 lead in game four on a kill and two solo blocks by Bocage. Stanford went up five following a Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, CA) kill and held the lead until BYU went up 27-26. Hansen and Toppel recorded back-to-back kills to hold the 28-27 lead. Toppel then added the final three of his game-high nine kills to force a fifth game 31-29.
In the fifth and decisive game, the Cougars went up 6-4 before Stanford took advantage of BYU hitting and serving errors to tie the game at seven. Skacel and Sandman recorded two consecutive block assists to give the Cardinal their first lead of the game 9-8. Both teams battled back and fourth, but a Skacel kill allowed Stanford to serve game point at 14-13. Wall then hit one down the line to tie the game for BYU. The Cardinal battled four match point opportunities behind the hitting of Skacel and Toppel. Bocage's kill tied the game at 19, but Luka Slabe and Acosta recorded kills to give BYU the game 21-19 and the match 3-2.
Toppel led four Cardinal in double figure kill numbers with 25. Strickland added 13, followed by Skacel (11) and Sandman (10). Skacel also recorded a team-high eight digs in his final match as a Cardinal. Hansen dished out 71 of Stanford's 75 assists.
Wall led BYU and all players with 33 kills and Rafael Paal finished with 17. Carlos Moreno recorded a match-high 84 assists.
The Cougars outhit the Cardinal .391 to .365, but Stanford outblocked BYU 11-5.
Stanford ends its season at 16-10 overall and placed fifth in the MPSF. BYU improves to 24-6 and moves on to the second round of the conference tournament.
1 2 3 4 5 No. 6 Stanford 24 23 30 31 19 No. 4 BYU 30 30 24 29 21