April 8, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford fell to No. 1 UC Irvine tonight 3-0 in its final home match for the 2006 season. The Anteaters maintained the top spot in the MPSF conference with game scores of 30-28, 30-18, and 30-19. With the loss, Stanford's record falls to 4-22 overall and 2-18 in the MPSF. UC Irvine improves to 25-3 overall and 18-2 in conference play.
Before the match, Stanford honored its five seniors: Chris Ahlfeldt, William Clayton, Jeremy Jacobs, Nick Manov, and Ben Reddy. Riding the energy of the ceremony, Stanford battled tough against the top team in the country in game one, trading point for point until 24-24. UC Irvine was then able to gain a couple of points on the Cardinal, and close out the match with a score of 30-28. As a team, Stanford out hit the Anteaters .333 to .297 for the game. Ahlfeldt led Stanford with four kills and a .667 hitting percentage. Matt Webber and Jayson Jablonsky led UC Irvine, with seven and six kills, respectively.
Stanford was not able to continue the tight battle through games two and three. The Anteaters presented a powerful attack, hitting .462 as a team with eight service aces. Jablonsky ended the match with 15 kills and four service aces, while Webber added 14 kills for the match.
Stanford's Reddy closed out his career on The Farm with a match-high performance of 18 kills, and also added one service ace. Ahlfeldt closed out his career on The Farm with six kills and four total blocks. Jacobs dished out 26 assists and four digs, while Clayton and Manov both notched one kill for the match.
The Cardinal will conclude its 2006 season next weekend in Southern California. On Friday, April 14th, the Cardinal will battle UC San Diego. On Saturday, April 15th the Cardinal will challenge No. 7 Long Beach State. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.