Jan. 29, 2011
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Stanford men's volleyball team was swept by Long Beach State, 25-21, 25-21, 25-13, in a Saturday afternoon matchup of teams that entered the day tied for second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Spencer McLachlin and Brad Lawson tied for the team kill lead with 10 apiece, but no Stanford player hit over Brian Cook's .182 percentage. Stanford hit only .021 against the 49ers, including minus-.276 in the final set.
"There's the old adage that you always learn more from a loss than a win," Stanford coach John Kosty said. "It's not something we wanted, but we'll definitely need to take advantage of it and move on."
No. 2 Stanford (5-2 overall, 4-2 MPSF) fell off the pace against No. 5 Long Beach (6-3, 5-1) late in each of the first two sets. In the first, Stanford was tied 12-12 and trailed only 18-17 after a kill by Lawson. But Long Beach scored the next four points to take command.
In the second, Stanford had a 17-12 lead before the 49ers went on a 7-1 run to take the lead. In the third, Stanford led 6-3 before Long Beach scored the next eight points to take an 11-6 lead it would not relinquish.
The Cardinal finished the weekend with a split, having won at No. 13 Cal State Northridge on Friday night.
"We had a couple of opportunities in Game 1 and Game 2 to take control, but Long Beach persevered and made plays when they had to," Kosty said. "It was a tough weekend for us. You always look to get two wins under your belt on the road because those are crucial matches in the MPSF."