Jan. 30, 2004
STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford University men's volleyball team defeated No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, 3-2 in a thrilling five game match. Game scores for the match were 28-30, 30-25, 30-28, 19-30, 16-14. With the win, the Cardinal improve to 5-4 on the season and 3-2 in MPSF play. The Gauchos fall to 5-4 on the year and 2-3 in MPSF action.
UC Santa Barbara captured game one 30-28, taking advantage of six Cardinal service errors. Sophomore Ben Reddy and redshirt junior Pat Bomhack each tallied five kills in the game for the Cardinal.
Stanford would bounce back and take games two and three. In the second game, Stanford led 16-13 when Reddy stepped up big for the Cardinal, pounding home five kills late in the game to give Stanford the game.
In the third game, the Cardinal jumped out to an early 10-4 lead thanks to a kill from redshirt junior Kevin Hansen. The Gauchos would fight back and knot the score at 15-15 on a kill from Evan Patak. The two teams traded points with UCSB taking a 28-26 lead late in the game. Reddy again came up big for the Cardinal, hammering home a kill to pull Stanford to within one at 28-27. Consecutive service aces by Reddy gave the Cardinal a 29-28 advantage. On the very next play, junior outside hitter David Vogel registered a kill to end the game.
The Gauchos roared back in game four, evening things up with a 30-19 win. The Cardinal struggled in the fourth game, hitting just .023 in the frame.
Down 5-6 in the decisive fifth game, the Cardinal received a pair of kills from Reddy and Hansen to grab a 7-6 lead. UCSB responded and a kill by Patak gave the Gauchos a 10-8 edge. The two teams battled back and forth and the Cardinal took advantage of a UCSB hitting error to pull even at 13-13. The two teams traded points, and with the score tied at 14-14, Hansen and Reddy registered back-to-back kills to end the game and secure the win for the Cardinal.
Reddy paced the Cardinal attack with 20 kills, marking the second consecutive game he has gone over 20 kills. Vogel was the only other Cardinal in double figure kills with 13, while Hansen handed out 50 assists. Junior middle blocker Craig Buell turned in a solid effort, registering eight kills and seven block assists.
Patak led the Gauchos attack with a game-high 23 kills, while Jake Weins and Michael Kennedy added 13 and 12 kills, respectively.
The Cardinal are back in action Saturday night when they face the No. 6 ranked Cal State Northridge Matadors in Burnham Pavilion at 7:00 pm (PT).