April 5, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - No. 8 Stanford men's volleyball struggled all night against No. 4 Long Beach State and dropped a three-game match (30-24, 30-25, 30-17) to fall to .500 in MPSF conference play. Sophomore Evan Romero and freshman Spencer McLachlin each finished with 11 kills and sophomore Kawika Shoji led the team with 28 assists.
Long Beach State was led by Josh Riley, who finished with 12 kills in the victory. 49ers setter Mike Klipsch finished with 31 assists to lead the squad. Paul Lotman recorded eight digs, which was a team-high and the 49ers finished with 15 blocks on the night to keep the Cardinal off balanced. Stanford finished with just eight blocks on the evening. The 49ers were also able to put forward 10 service aces, with the Cardinal only getting one of their own.
The 49ers improved to 21-5 on the season and are in the running for the number one seed in the MPSF Tournament, along with BYU and CS Northridge. Stanford now remains in sixth place, with two pivotal matches next weekend against UCLA and UC Irvine. The Cardinal can finish anywhere from 5th to 8th in the conference.
The Cardinal will return to the court on Friday, Apr. 11 when they take on the UCLA Bruins at Maples Pavilion. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m.