Feb. 17, 2007
The Cardinal started off hot in an energized game one, but fell to the Bruins in four games in front of a charged crowd of 571 in Burnham Pavilion tonight. In a fairly even match statistically, much like last weekend's match between these two teams, in the end the Cardinal were bested by the Bruins' hitting and service game. Senior Matt Ceran led Stanford in kills with 17, while freshman Garrett Werner added 11 kills (.786). Sophomore Jarod Keller had a match-high 10 digs for the Cardinal. Freshman Kawika Shoji had 42 set assists. For the Bruins, senior Steve Klosterman had a match-high 19 kills and two of UCLA's nine service aces. The loss drops Stanford to 1-10, 1-15 overall while UCLA improves to 6-6, 8-7 overall.
Both Stanford and UCLA brought a lot of fire to game one. At 8-12, UCLA had their biggest lead of the game, however Stanford rallied back to even the score at 15-all, forcing the Bruins to call timeout. The Cardinal continued to put the pressure on the Bruins, taking a 17-16 lead off of a kill by Garrett Werner. Going into the final third of the game, the score was even at 20-all. Sophomore Jarod Keller, who had a game-high five digs, came up with a key dig, leading to a kill by Matt Ceran which put the Cardinal up 24-23. But UCLA would not back down. The Bruins went on a 3-1 run, forcing a Stanford timeout at 25-26. The Cardinal responded with a Ceran kill and an ace by freshman Kawika Shoji to take a 29-27 lead. UCLA was able to save one match point on a double block by Shaun Nichols and Steve Klosterman. Stanford took advantage of their second match point and took game one 30-28 off of a kill by freshman Evan Romero. Stanford hit .333 in game one, while UCLA hit .323.
Stanford and UCLA struggled to find a rhythm in their serving game to start game two. However the Bruins were able to string a few kills and defensive stops together to take a 5-8 lead. Stanford faced an eight-point deficit at 8-16 that they were able to cut into slightly at 12-18. However UCLA, hitting .524 on the game, maintained their quality hitting. The Bruins ended game two on a kill by Klosterman, 23-30. Jamie Diefenbach led the Bruins with five kills on the game. Stanford had a balanced attack on the game led by Ceran, Romero, and Brandon Williams.
The Cardinal found themselves down early in game three. They rallied to even the score at 10-all, but a 5-1 run by the Bruins forced the Cardinal to call timeout. Stanford, plagued by missed hits and service errors were unable to overcome the deficit. UCLA took advantage, and added four service aces on the game. Klosterman led the Bruins with two aces on the game and six kills, including one to win the game 19-30.
Game four started much like game three for the Cardinal. UCLA used their momentum from the previous game to take a 3-9 lead. Stanford rallied to within four points at 8-12, but a 4-1 scoring run by the Bruins forced Stanford to call timeout. Brandon Williams came up with a timely kill out of timeout, but the Bruins continued to bring the heat. At 19-29, Stanford saved three match points, which included an ace by Brandon Williams, forcing UCLA to call timeout. However, freshman Garrett Muagututia ended the match on a kill, giving the Bruins the edge 22-30.
Stanford hits the road next weekend as they battle Pepperdine and USC on February 22 and 23. The Cardinal return home to play Quincy University on March 5 in a non-conference game.
#6 UCLA d. Stanford University (30-28, 23-30, 19-30, 22-30)