Feb. 26, 2010
STOCKTON, Calif. - Brad Lawson had 27 kills and only four hitting errors to lead No. 2 Stanford to a 30-24, 28-30, 30-16, 31-29 victory over Pacific in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball match on Friday night at the Spanos Center.
Stanford (10-4 overall, 8-4 in the MPSF) edged the Tigers, the only other Northern California Division I men's program, in the final set by scoring its final four points off Pacific errors to break a 27-27 tie. It was the seventh victory in the past eight matches for Stanford and the 49th consecutive conference loss for Pacific (6-12, 0-12).
"We did the right things at the right time," said Stanford coach John Kosty, whose team also got a key service ace from freshman Myles Muagututia, a two-sport athlete who also plays safety for the Cardinal football team.
Lawson, a sophomore, is averaging 7.0 kills per set in the past two conference matches and has 56 kills in that span. On Feb. 14, Lawson was selected as the national player of the week.
"Brad gets better and better," Kosty said. "He's learning every week to be a better outside hitter in this conference. He's understanding how to be a consistent hitter."
Stanford got 14 kills apiece from Evan Romero and Spencer McLachlin and hit .452 as a team, with Lawson hitting .561. All-American setter Kawika Shoji had 61 assists.
"I give all the credit to Pacific," Kosty said. "They played tough. They're playing like a true MPSF team right now."
Stanford returns to action with home matches against UC San Diego (Friday) and Long Beach State (Saturday) at Maples Pavilion.