Feb. 15, 2008
No. 10 Stanford men's volleyball won the first two games in Friday's match and held on to beat Pacific 3-2 (30-26, 30-19, 24-30, 30-32, 15-11) and exact revenge on the team that swept the Cardinal earlier this season at Burnham Pavilion. Sophomore Evan Romero had a big night, recording 20 more kills. Stanford hit over .300 in all three of the games they won.
The Cardinal also got double-doubles from sophomore Kawika Shoji and freshman Spencer McLachlin. Shoji recorded 19 kills and 15 digs, and was able to hit .368 for the match. McLachlin recorded 16 kills and 13 digs and hit .314 for the match. Junior Miki Groppi started at setter in all five games and tallied 57 assists on the night. He also put forth six digs and two kills in the winning effort.
Stanford limited the Tigers to an under .200 hitting percentage in four of the five matches and were able to control the frontline and keep Pacific off balance. The Cardinal hit a game-high .423 in the first game and won it 30-26. The team continued to dominate the match in the second game when it won going away 30-19.
After Pacific came back to win games three and four, the Cardinal risked blowing a 2-0 lead. In the pivotal game five, the game was tied at 10 before Stanford scored the next four points to take a commanding 14-10 lead. After the Tigers scored a point, McLachlin produced the game-winning kill to even up Stanford's record in MPSF competition at 5-5.
The Cardinal will return to the court next Friday, Feb. 22 in Provo, UT. against BYU.