March 27, 2004
STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 9 ranked Stanford University men's volleyball team fell to the No. 2 ranked Long Beach State 49ers, 3-0 Saturday night at Burnham Pavilion. The setback dropped the Cardinal's season record to 8-13 on the season and 5-11 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. The 49ers clinched a berth in the MPSF playoffs and improved their season record to 21-4 overall and 14-3 in league action. Game scores for the match were 30-28, 30-22, and 30-19.
Despite hitting just .214 in the first game, the Cardinal battled the 49ers to the end, eventually falling 30-28. Down midway through the first game, the Cardinal rallied and would tie the score at 27-27 on an ace by sophomore William Clayton. After two points by LBSU brought the score to 29-27, a block by juniors Kevin Hansen and Craig Buell trimmed the 49ers lead to 29-28. That would be as close as the Cardinal would get, as Long Beach's Jeff Wooton hammered home one of his nine kills in the game to end it at 30-28. Redshirt junior Pat Bomhack registered six kills in the game for the Cardinal, while junior outside hitter David Vogel chipped in three. Wooton tallied nine kills in the first game for the 49ers.
The Cardinal picked up the offense in game two, hitting .429 for the frame, but the 49ers used six service aces en route to the 30-22 win. The Cardinal would get as close as three, but couldn't get over the edge as LBSU had an answer for every Stanford attack, hitting .448 for the game. Sophomore middle blocker Chris Ahlfeldt led the way for the Cardinal with four kills, while Wooton record nine kills in nine swings for the 49ers.
Stanford struggled in game three and the 49ers managed a .462 hitting percentage for the game. Buell and sophomore outside hitter Ben Reddy each registered three kills to lead the Cardinal, while Wooton continued his amazing night with seven more kills.
For the game, Bomhack pounded home a team-high seven kills, while Buell, Ahlfeldt, and Vogel each added six kills. Reddy and sophomore Nick Manov contributed four and three kills of the bench, respectively. Hansen handed out a team-high 32 assists, while Vogel collected a game-high seven digs.
For the 49ers, Wooton was a one man show, registering 25 kills, while hitting .656 for the match. Wooton also added four service aces, all of them coming in game two.
The Cardinal hit the road, playing first at Cal State Northridge on April, 2nd and then at UC Santa Barbara on the 3rd.