March 7, 2008
No. 7 Stanford men's volleyball hung with the No. 4 Long Beach State 49ers for two of the three games Friday night, but couldn't breakthrough in Long Beach and dropped the match. The loss (30-28, 30-23, 30-27) drops the Cardinal to 13-7 on the season and 8-7 in MPSF competition. The Cardinal was once again led by Evan Romero, who recorded 18 kills on the evening. Freshman Jordan Inafuku led Stanford with nine digs.
Stanford stayed with the 49ers for all of the first game, but couldn't close out in the 30-28 loss. The score was 29-28, but Long Beach attack Paul Litman recorded one of his team-leading 18 kills to finish off the frame. The 49ers were also led by Dean Bitner, who recorded 12 kills in the winning effort.
After falling into a 0-2 hole, the Cardinal was hoping to comeback starting in game three, but fell in another close game. After staying with the 49ers the whole game, they ended up falling by the score of 30-27. The frame was put away by Bitner, who also was instrumental in the second frame victory for the 49ers.
Sophomore Kawika Shoji was once again the leading assist man for the Cardinal, as he recorded 33 assists in the defeat. Mike Klipsch led the 49ers with 40. The Cardinal was unable to hit for a high percentage, as they hit just .240 for the match and hit into 13 service errors.
The Cardinal will return to action tomorrow when they take on the UC San Diego Tritons at 7:00 p.m.