March 8, 2003
STANFORD, Calif. - Senior William Curtis (Whittier, CA) had 16 kills and four service aces to lead 10th-ranked Stanford (11-10) to a 30-27, 28-30, 30-21, 30-28 victory over Findlay (8-13) in the Cardinal Invitational on Saturday night at Burnham Pavilion.
Pacific finished the two-day tournament with a 2-0 record, while Lewis and Stanford were both 1-1 and Findlay was 0-2.
Stanford led by as many five points in game one, but the Oilers came back to trim the deficit to 29-27. The Cardinal, which hit .438 (17-3-32) in the opening game, then closed it out on a kill from Curtis.
Findlay, which hit .272 (63-26-136) for the match, hit an impressive .452 (16-2-31) in the second game to even the contest at one apiece. The Cardinal led 28-25, but the Oilers scored five straight points, highlighted by two blocks and a kill from sophomore Josh Noblet.
Stanford quickly turned the tables, as it jumped out to a 15-8 lead in game three en route to an easy 30-21 win.
Game four came down to the wire tied at 28-28, and the hosts finished the match from there on a kill from Curtis and a Findlay hitting error. The Cardinal held the Oilers to just a .111 (13-9-36) hitting percentage in game four.
Senior Paul Bocage (Princeton, NJ) had 14, kills, five service aces, four blocks and a .650 (14-1-20) hitting percentage for Stanford, while senior William Strickland (Malibu, CA) pitched in 15 kills and 12 digs. Bocage's five aces ties for the fifth highest single match total in Stanford history.
The Cardinal recorded an impressive 11 service aces in the match, compared to two for the Oilers. Stanford finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .315 (64-23-130).
Junior Jeff Overfield had a match-high 20 kills and four digs to lead Findlay, while freshman Jim Dziczkowski pitched in 17 kills, eight digs and three blocks.
The Cardinal will now take nearly three weeks off for final examinations, and will return to action on Friday, March 28 against USC at 7:00 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion. Stanford then closes out its 2003 home schedule against No. 1 Pepperdine on Saturday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion.