Feb. 25, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - No. 3 Pepperdine needed four games to top Stanford tonight in an MPSF match in Burnham Pavilion. The Waves took the match with games scores of 30-26, 30-24, 27-30, 31-29. With the loss, Stanford's record moves to 4-14 overall and 2-10 in the MPSF. Pepperdine improves to 10-3 overall and 10-3 in the MPSF.
Game one remained tied through 15-15 before Pepperdine jumped ahead for good. At Pepperdine up 26-23, senior outside hitter William Clayton had a service ace to bring the Cardinal within two points. Stanford was not able to hold on, as Pepperdine's senior middle blocker Andy Hein smashed a kill at 29-28 for the Pepperdine win. Senior opposite Ben Reddy led the Cardinal with six kills, while Clayton added four kills and one ace.
In game two Pepperdine took an early lead and was able to remain ahead for the entire game. Stanford battled with long rallies and stellar defense, led by junior libero Brian Lindberg who had four digs for the game. Reddy led the Cardinal offensively with nine kills.
Stanford continued to battle, and in game three their efforts paid off. The Cardinal took a 14-11 lead, propelled by Reddy's serving which earned the Cardinal five points. Pepperdine tied the game at 20-20, but Stanford was able to regain the lead and closed the match with a kill out of the back row by Reddy. Junior setter Jeremy Jacobs and sophomore middle blocker Matt Ceran were huge at the net in game three, blocking Pepperdine's John Parfitt for three points. Lindberg continued his defensive show, adding another two digs, and senior outside hitter Chris Ahlfelt was perfect in his hitting attempts, notching three kills in three attempts.
In game four Pepperdine jumped to a big lead 21-14, but Stanford continued to battle, before dropping the game and the match with a 31-29 score. Reddy continued to pace the Cardinal with eight kills and one service ace. Pepperdine was led by Parfitt's six kills.
"I was very happy with the way our guys competed tonight," said head coach Don Shaw after the match. "In the end, we were not able to stop Pepperdine's Andy Hein, but I thought we played very well defensively and that kept us in the match."
Hein notched 14 kills on the night for the Waves and a .571 hitting percentage, while Parfitt recorded 16 kills. Pepperdine also combined for 30 total team blocks, led by junior middle blocker Tom Hulse with eight.
Stanford's Reddy had a match-high 27 kills and three service aces. Clayton ended the night with 10 kills and two service aces for the Cardinal. Defensively, Lindberg led the Cardinal with 12 digs, and Jacobs led the team at the net with five block assists.
Next weekend Stanford travels to Provo, Utah to challenge the No. 1 team in the nation, BYU. The first match will be on Friday, March 3rd, and the second match on Saturday, March 4th. Both will begin at 7 p.m. MST.