April 6, 2007
Stanford came out fighting as they took the top ranked Pepperdine Waves to four games tonight at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal took the first game of the match 34-32. The next three games were battles, however Pepperdine managed to take the win. The victory brings the nationally ranked Waves to a 22-1 overall record and 18-1 in the MPSF. Stanford falls to 3-22 and 2-17 in league play.
Game one was an exciting start to the match. Pepperdine took the first timeout with Stanford up 15-14. The Cardinal kept the momentum causing the Waves to call their second timeout at 19-15. A kill by Pepperdine's Paul Carroll and a Stanford hitting error got the Waves back in the game. Stanford took advantage of a ball handling error to lead the Waves at 22-21. At 22-23 Stanford took their first timeout and their second at 26-25 with Pepperdine leading. A kill by freshman Kawika Shoji tied the game at 27. Although Stanford had two service errors within the next three points, the Cardinal were able to win the first game 34-32.
The second game was a sideout battle as Stanford took a timeout at 10-8 with Pepperdine leading. A kill by Matt Ceran late in the game tied the score at 21 as the Waves called a timout. Pepperdine won the second game 30-27.
Pepperdine jumped to a 6-3 lead early in game three. Two hitting errors by Stanford forced a Cardinal timeout as they were down 8-13. Stanford took their final timeout of the game at 9-16. The Cardinal were able to come back from being down by seven after a Waves hitting error and Stanford block. Pepperdine took a timeout at 26-25 and were able to hold on to their lead, finishing the game 30-26.
A solo block by Ceran tied the fourth game at 11. Two back to back blocks by Stanford brought the score to 15-16 causing Pepperdine to take a timeout. The Waves had a streak, getting four points in a row to make the score 27-23. Pepperdine finished the game 30-25 on a dump by setter Jonathan Winder.
Don't miss tomorrow's match as Stanford holds their final match of the season at home in Burnham Pavilion. The team and fans will honor and say goodbye to seniors Brian Lindberg and Josh Schwarzapel.