March 10, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford dropped their MPSF match tonight to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 3-0 at Burnham Pavilion on the Stanford campus. The Gauchos beat the Cardinal with game scores of 30-25, 30-21, and 30-26. With the loss, Stanford's record falls to 4-17 overall and 2-13 in the MPSF. UC Santa Barbara improves to 12-9 overall and 8-7 in conference play.
In game one, the Gauchos out-hit the Cardinal .419 to .267. Junior opposite Evan Patak led the way for UC Santa Barbara, notching seven kills, three aces and a .600 hitting percentage. Stanford was led by seniors Chris Ahlfeldt and Ben Reddy, each recording five kills. Ahlfeldt also led the team with a .833 hitting percentage.
The Gauchos continued to roll in game two, hitting .607 as a team. Reddy again led the Cardinal with eight kills and a .417 hitting percentage. Senior setter Jeremy Jacobs dished out 14 assists to raise his match total to 28. For the game, UC Santa Barbara hit .607 as a team and Stanford hit .250.
Stanford continued to battle, and kept game three close through the mid-way point, propelled by Reddy's tough serving. The Gauchos stayed persistent and closed out the match, once again led by Patak who had a game-high nine kills. Reddy again led Stanford with five kills, and freshman setter Miki Groppi recorded 10 assists as he received the starting nod in game three.
For the match, Stanford hit .227, compared with UC Santa Barbara's .432. Reddy pounded out 18 kills and three aces. Ahlfeldt was second on the team with seven kills and a .600 hitting percentage. Patak led the Gauchos, and the match, with 23 kills, 5 aces, and a .576 hitting percentage.
Stanford will host No. 5 CS Northridge tomorrow night. The match will again be held in Burnham Pavilion and will begin at 7 p.m.