Jan. 7, 2003
STANFORD, Calif. - Sophomore middle blocker Christopher Sandman (San Jose, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) recorded a match-high 11 kills to lead host Stanford University to a 30-18, 30-19, 30-24 sweep over UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday night at Burnham Pavilion. The match was the 2003 season opener for both teams.
Sandman hit an impressive .786 on the night, recording the 11 kills with no errors in 14 attempts. In game three, Sandman hit a perfect 1.000 with six kills in as many attempts.
In game one, the Cardinal broke a close game wide open by using a 12-2 run to extend a 14-11 advantage to 26-13. Stanford hit .538 (16 kills-2 errors-26 total attempts) in the opening game, compared to .194 (12 k-6 e-31 ta) for the visitors.
Game two was more of the same as UC Santa Cruz stayed close early before the Cardinal pulled away. Stanford ran off seven consecutive points, and 13 of the last 14, to erase an 18-17 deficit and win going away. The Cardinal hit .650 in the second game (15 k-2 e-20 ta), and received eight of those kills in just nine attempts from senior All-American Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS).
In the third game, Stanford jumped out a 23-17 lead only to see the visitors cut the margin in half at 26-23. The Cardinal, however, scored four of the final five points to complete the 66-minute sweep.
Stanford finished the night with a .494 (50 k-11 e-79 ta) team hitting percentage, and had 25 digs to 15 for UC Santa Cruz. Toppel finished with nine kills and five digs, while sophomore Craig Buell (Solana Beach, CA/Santa Fe Christian HS) added eight kills and senior William Strickland (Malibu, CA/Harvard-Westlake HS) chipped in seven kills and a team-high six digs.
Sophomore Brian Gallagher (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar HS) had 10 kills and three blocks to lead UC Santa Cruz. The visitors finished the match with a .237 (32 k-14 e-76 ta) team hitting percentage.
Stanford returns to action this weekend as it travels to the eight-team E-Bar Invite on Friday and Saturday at UC Santa Barbara. The Cardinal, which is the second seed in the tournament, opens action against UC Irvine on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Stanford will then play again at 10:00 a.m. in either the championship or consolation semifinals and will conclude tournament play with another match Saturday evening.
The Cardinal's next home match is Friday, January 17 when it opens up Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play against the BYU Cougars at 7:00 p.m. at Burnham Pavilion. The teams will play again the next night at 7:00 p.m. at Burnham.