Jan. 26, 2007
With lots of fight and hustle, the Cardinal fell short tonight to No.7 Indiana University- Purdue University at Fort Wayne in Indiana in front of approximately 1,200 active fans. Stanford hit .151 to IPFW's .285, and had 39 kills on the match to IPFW's 57. The loss drops the Cardinal to 0-8, while IPFW improves to 5-0. The series between the two schools is now tied at 2-2.
Both teams hung tough in game one, rallying back and forth with key kills and digs to keep the scoring close. When IPFW took a two-point lead at 21-23, which led to a Stanford timeout, the Cardinal responded with a timely kill by freshman Evan Romero followed closely by a Brandon Williams kill and service ace that put Stanford on top 25-24. A key joust at the net won by freshman Kawika Shoji gave the Cardinal a 26-25 lead. However several kills and two aces for the Mastadons gave them the edge. Stanford's balanced attack hit .323 in game one, while IPFW junior C.J. Macias led with 10 kills.
In game two, the Cardinal establish a four-point lead at 14-10, but a fierce IPFW charge evened the match at 15-15. The Dons took their first lead since 2-3 at 18-19, but the Cardinal rallied back and kept the scoring even until 27-27. At that point, IPFW took over. A few errors down the stretch for the Cardinal after an otherwise solid game two performance lifted the Dons over Stanford.
Stanford came out firing in game three. They were able to establish and maintain a lead with key kills by junior Matt Ceran and Evan Romero, as well as with solid defense and serves. A 10-3 Cardinal run gave Stanford a 21-14 advantage over IPFW. However the Dons went on a five-point run of their own to halt the Cardinal's momentum and close the gap at 22-19. The Cardinal responded with a few points to gain a 26-22 advantage, however big defensive plays and an offensive surge lead by Macias tied the game for IPFW at 26-26. Once again, Stanford responded with a kill and solo block by Matt Ceran to put the Cardinal up 29-27, giving them two match points. However timely efforts my Macias and Josh Stewart for IPFW gave them the win at 29-31.
Matt Ceran led the Cardinal with 14 kills, while Evan Romero added 13 kills and two solo blocks. Senior Brian Lindberg had 14 digs for the Cardinal. IPFW's Macias led the match with 20 kills.
Next, the Cardinal will face No.7 IPFW again tomorrow night, January 27, at 7:00 PM (EST) in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
# 7 IPFW (5-0) d. Stanford (0-8), 30-27, 30-27, 31-29