Jan. 19, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - No. 15 Stanford Men's Volleyball team started their home conference schedule with a 3-0 win over UC San Diego tonight in Burnham Pavilion. The Cardinal won the match with game scores of 30-25, 30-27, and 30-26.
Senior outside hitter William Clayton started the Cardinal rolling in the first game with a strong service performance, serving for three points, including a service ace. The teams then traded side outs for several points, remaining tied until 18-18. Stanford established their permanent lead at 19-18 and were led in the game by senior Chris Ahlfeldt's five kills, and freshman Jarod Keller's four digs. Senior setter Jeremy Jacobs ended game one with a service ace.
Game two was again a tightly played contest. Stanford established an early lead, with UC San Diego tying up the match five times, including a final time at 26-26. Stanford was able to regain the lead and ended the match with a kill by Jesse Meredith, assisted by Ahlfeldt. Meredith led the Cardinal with a .667 hitting percentage for game two, while sophomore Matt Ceran notched five kills and a .556 hitting percentage. Junior Brooks Dierdorff led UC San Diego with four kills and a 1.000 hitting percentage in game two.
UC San Diego jumped to an early lead in game three, before Stanford used a Ceran kill to establish their largest lead of the game at 15-9. UC San Diego was able to pull within two points at 26-24, forcing Stanford to call a time-out. UC San Diego followed with a service error and an attacking error. Stanford's last two points came from a Meredith kill and a kill by senior opposite Ben Reddy.
Reddy led the match in kills, posting 14 on the night. Meredith notched 12 kills for the Cardinal, while Ceran contributed 10. Jacobs led the Cardinal with 10 digs, while Keller added 9 digs. Chris Sayers' 10 kills and Joseph Sexton's 11 digs led UC San Diego.
The Cardinal is next in action against No. 1 Long Beach State this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.