April 2, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - Trailing two games to one, with their backs against the wall, the Cardinal men jumped out to an early 10-5 lead and maintained it throughout most of game four. The Bruins mounted a comeback cutting the lead to two points 21-19 causing the Cardinal bench to call a timeout. The Bruins continued to rally, gaining the lead 23-24 before the Cardinal called its final timeout. Stanford fought back and reclaimed the lead after a kill by Craig Buell and a combined block by Buell and David Vogel. The momentum then jumped toward the Cardinal as Stanford went ahead by two points after a UCLA attempt was dug near the scorer's table and Kevin Hansen performed a sliding kick save keeping the ball in play. The ensuing UCLA attempt was solo blocked by Chris Ahlfeldt. The Bruins answered solidifying their No. 2 ranking by forcing the game to extra points before closing out the match 1-3 (30-25, 33-35, 21-30, 34-36). The Cardinal record dropped to 10-12 (9-10 MPSF).
In game one the Cardinal maintained a two-point lead for through nine points. A pair of Cardinal attempts sailed wide, locking the score 11-11. Stanford surged ahead with a three-point run to take a 14-11 advantage. The Bruins fought back to tie the score 19-19 after an exciting rally. The Cardinal managed to build another three-point margin prompting UCLA to burn its final timeout. Stanford stretched the margin to five and closed out game one 30-25.
The second game began with even play until the Cardinal went on a three-point run, bringing the score to 11-8. After a UCLA timeout the Bruins turned the three-point deficit into a four-point 15-19 lead behind a wealth of UCLA blocks. UCLA stretched the lead to six, but Stanford fought back behind the serve of Hansen to lock the score 23-23. After trading 10 points the Bruins came away with game two 35-33, totaling 10 blocks in game two.
With the score locked at a game a piece, the Bruins began game three holding on to a four-point margin resulting in a timeout by Stanford. The Cardinal inched back within two but UCLA was able to regain the four-point lead at the halfway mark. UCLA its distance from the Cardinal to seven points 13-20. Two kills by Nick Manov put a dent in the Bruin advantage, but UCLA turned it on for the final points of the match, claiming the win 30-21.
Statistically, Hansen posted 41 assists with Ben Reddy putting away 16 kills and scooping 14 digs. Hansen also led the Cardinal in hitting percentage, putting away four of seven attempts.