April 15, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - The Cardinal dropped the first of a two-game series with the BYU Cougars on Friday at Maples Pavilion in one of the closest matches of the year. Stanford moves to 11-13 (10-11 MPSF) following the 3-1 loss to the Cougars. Stanford gets a second chance at the Cougars when the two teams meet Saturday at 7:00 PM in Maples Pavilion for another MPSF contest. Prior to Saturday's match there will be a special salute for the team's graduating seniors as they will play their last regular season game for the Cardinal.
Kevin Hansen paced the Cardinal with 46 assists, 19 of them put away by Ben Reddy's .316 hitting percentage. David Vogel led the Cardinal with 13 digs.
Game one began with the score deadlocked through 16 points, until the Cardinal built a two-point lead behind the serve of Chris Ahlfeldt. After a BYU timeout the Cougars obtained momentum, capturing a two-point 21-19 lead and prompting a timeout by the Cardinal bench. After trading four points, Stanford inched back to tie the score 25-25. The Cougars won three of the next four points to regain a 28-26 lead and cause Don Shaw to burn the Cardinal's final timeout. Stanford was unable to close the gap, dropping game one 30-28.
Stanford began game two by mounting an early 7-2 lead behind David Vogel's serve. The Cougars seemed to claim momentum by cutting the lead to two-points, but Stanford held them off to spread the margin to four points before the first BYU timeout. The Cardinal continued to push ahead opening up a double digit lead before closing out game two 30-18.
With the match tied 1-1, neither team was able to create any breathing room until BYU's Casey Patterson delivered two strong serves to put the Cougars up 13-10. The Cougars continued to build their lead to a 16-11 advantage. The Cardinal chipped away at the Cougar lead, cutting the margin to three before BYU used its first timeout. The Cougars were able to hold of the Cardinal, gaining a 2-1 lead with the 30-26 win.
BYU opened game four in control and up by two points. The Cardinal caught fire, making up the gap and creating a lead of its own. With the Cardinal leading 18-15, the Cougars rallied to score the next three points, locking the score 18-18. The teams traded seven points before the Cougars managed to go up by two 27-25. A pair of long rallies followed with the Cougars pushing the Cardinal to match point. Stanford was able to overcome the deficit momentarily, forcing the game to extra points before the Cougars closed out the match with the 32-30 win.