Jan. 15, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - The eighth ranked Stanford Cardinal suffered its first conference loss, falling to the third ranked Pepperdine Waves 1-3. Stanford now holds a 2-3 (1-1 MPSF) record heading into next week's road trip. Stanford maintained its poise early, but the strong blocking and hitting of Pepperdine wore down Stanford in the later games. The Cardinal went their second match without outside hitter Josh Schwarzapel and opposite hitter Nick Manov. "We lose a lot of depth without Schwarzapel and Manov in the lineup," explained head coach, Don Shaw.
The Cardinal trailed for the majority of game one, trading points until a four point run locked the game at 27-27. Outside hitter Ben Reddy sealed the 30-28 win with his fifth kill off of an assist by setter Kevin Hansen.
After dropping game two 24-30, Stanford found itself in a seesaw battle with numerous lead changes. The Waves edged the Cardinal 29-31 in game three and never looked back, closing out the match with the 20-30 victory in game four.
Stanford returns to action next week when the Cardinal travel south to face MPSF opponents Long Beach State and UC San Diego.