Feb. 28, 2003
STANFORD, Calif. -
The ninth-ranked Stanford men's volleyball team improved to 9-8 overall and 7-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with a 31-33, 30-21, 30-20, 30-26 win over visiting UC Santa Barbara (6-14, 3-11) on Friday night at Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal, which is now 3-2 on this 11-match homestand, takes on sixth-ranked Cal State Northridge on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.
Fourteenth-ranked UC Santa Barbara jumped off to a good start with a 33-31 win in game one. The score was tied at 31-31 before Jan Carlos Zegarra rattled off back-to-back kills to close out the game.
Stanford was quick to respond, however, as it out-hit the Gauchos .409 (12 k-3 e-22 ta)-.086 (14-11-35) in game two. The Cardinal broke the game wide open with an 8-2 run that turned a 17-13 lead into a commanding 25-15 advantage.
The Cardinal also posted a convincing win in game three thanks to a 7-3 run that gave the hosts an insurmountable 19-11 lead.
Stanford wrapped up the match in dramatic fashion. UCSB led 25-22 before the Cardinal reeled off seven consecutive points thanks to four hitting errors, two ball handling errors and a service error from the Gauchos. The Cardinal later closed out the match on UCSB's 20th and final service error of the match.
Senior Willilam Strickland (Malibu, CA) had 17 kills, eight blocks and five digs for the Cardinal, while senior William Curtis (Whittier, CA) chipped in 17 kills and eight digs. Sophomore David Vogel (Poway, CA) had 10 kills and 14 digs and senior middle blocker Paul Bocage (Princeton, NJ) pitched in nine kills, 10 blocks and three service aces.
Keith Busam and Zegarra had 15 kills apiece to lead the Gauchos.