March 2, 2007
The No. 9 ranked University of the Pacific men's volleyball team swept Stanford in three games 30-23, 34-32, 30-21 Friday night at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif. This loss puts the Cardinal at 1-13 in the MPSF and 1-17 overall. The UOP Tigers improve to 7-7 in conference and 10-9 for the season.
The first game was mostly dominated by the Tigers, as they led at one point of the game by eight points. UOP finished with a margin of seven points with the score of 30-23. The Cardinal brought excitement to game two, controlling most of the game until the final two points. Freshman Kawika Shoji moved to the outside during the game as Miki Groppi entered the match to set for the team. The change in lineup wasn't enough to get a game win, as UOP outlasted Stanford 34-32.Tied at 13-13 in game three, things looked promising for Stanford. However the Tigers went on a run and scored 17 of the last 25 points to capture the win 30-21.
Kawika Shoji finished with nine kills on 16 attempts, 12 assists, and five digs. Middle Brandon Williams ended the match with 10 kills and Garrett Werner had seven block assists. Jarod Keller added nine digs.
The Tigers Dan Hammer had a career high 14 kills and six block assists. Junior middle Simon Chen-Byerley hit .583 for the night.
Stanford will return home to face Quincy on Monday, March 5 at 7:00 PM in Burnham Pavilion.