April 4, 2003
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The 10th-ranked Stanford men's volleyball team took a giant step towards qualifying for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Playoffs with a 30-27, 27-30, 30-28, 30-28 road upset over sixth-ranked Long Beach State on Friday night at The Pyramid. The Cardinal, which was led by a season-high 30 kills from senior Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA), improved to 13-11 overall and 10-8 in the MPSF, while the 49ers dropped to 15-12 and 9-11.
Stanford, which has won three of its last four conference matches, moved into fifth place in the 12-team MPSF with the victory. The top eight teams in the conference make the playoffs, and the Cardinal currently leads ninth-place Long Beach State by two games with four to play.
Stanford needs to win two of its final four matches to lock up its fourth consecutive MPSF Playoff berth. The Cardinal next visits last place UC San Diego (5-19, 1-18) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Stanford jumped out to a great start on Friday night, as it never trailed in game one en route to a 30-27 victory. Stanford took a quick 6-2 advantage, and led by as many as six points at 13-7 and 26-20. The 49ers, however, cut the deficit to 29-28 before Stanford closed it out on a Toppel kill.
Long Beach State led just 26-25 in game two, before reeling off three of the next four points to reach game point at 29-26. After the Cardinal scored on a 49er service error, the hosts closed out the game on a kill by Scott Touzinsky. The 49ers hit .581 (20 k-2 e-31 ta) in game two.
The 49ers led for most of game three, but the Cardinal came back to tie the score at 26, 27 and 28. Stanford then scored the last two points on a 49er attack error and a kill by senior William Strickland (Malibu, CA). Stanford out-hit Long Beach State by an impressive .516 (18-2-31)-.205 (19-11-39) margin in the third game.
The match appeared to be headed for a fifth game as the 49ers claimed a 28-25 advantage late in game four. Stanford, however, ran off the final five points to wrap up the win. Stanford tied it on kills by redshirt sophomore Kevin Hansen (Newport Beach, CA), senior William Curtis (Whittier, CA) and freshman Chris Ahlfeldt (Manhattan Beach, CA), and scored the final two points on 49er attack errors.
Toppel led the Cardinal with 30 kills, four blocks, three digs and a .500 hitting percentage (30-7-46), while Strickland contributed 12 kills, four digs and three blocks. Sophomore Craig Buell (Solana Beach, CA) had seven kills, six blocks and a .636 (7-0-11) hitting percentage and Hansen had 58 assists and six digs.
Touzinsky led Long Beach State with 22 kills and five blocks, while Robert Tarr chipped in 18 kills, five digs and a .500 hitting percentage (18-3-30).
Stanford hit .409 (70-18-127) as a team, which was its best effort since it hit .494 (50-11-79) in the season opener vs. UC Santa Cruz on Jan. 7. The 49ers hit .368 (75-25-136). The Cardinal also out-blocked the hosts 13.0-9.0.