March 30, 2012
MALIBU, Calif. - The Stanford men's volleyball team didn't appear to be rusty, not after blasting out of the gate in its first match in 23 days on the way to outlasting Pepperdine on Friday night.
The longest in-season layoff in program history did not appear to hurt the No. 5 Cardinal. In fact, it may have helped, given that Stanford struggled to a 2-3 record in its final matches going into the winter quarter break.
Brad Lawson had 19 kills to lead Stanford to a 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12 victory over No. 7 Pepperdine in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action at Firestone Fieldhouse.
In a conference race so tight that five teams are clustered within one loss of each other at the top of the standings, fifth-place Stanford (15-5 overall, 12-4 MPSF) knew it had no time to acclimate.
"Every match is huge," said Stanford coach John Kosty, who picked up his 99th career victory. "Nobody's sitting in the driver's seat. Everybody has tough matches down the stretch."
Malibu has been especially tough on the Cardinal. From 1998-2010, the Cardinal failed to win a match there. During the last four years of that span, Stanford failed to even win a set.
The Cardinal broke the streak last season with a victory, but it took some doing to make it two in a row. After Stanford's blitzed the Waves (12-11, 7-10) in the first set and was off to a 16-14 lead in the second, the momentum literally came crashing down.
The low-hanging lights at Firestone can be tricky, and dangerous. Earlier this season, Waves' star Maurice Torres was injured when a ball struck a light, which shattered on top of him.
"Every match is huge. Nobody's in the driver's seat."John Kosty |
This time, an Eric Mochalski strike and Torres dig resulted in another ball-light collision and shattered glass. No one was injured this time, but the long delay in getting the floor cleaned up cooled down the Cardinal. Pepperdine scored the next three points wrapped around a Stanford timeout and took control to even the match up at one set apiece.
"The light came crashing down and that break kind of stalled our momentum," Kosty said. "That changed the whole tone of the match. It gave them new life."
A one-sided Stanford laugher turned into a mano-a-mano struggle. Stanford was hitting over .360 to that point. The Cardinal would end up at only .230, to Pepperdine's .261. It was Stanford's lowest hitting percentage in a victory this season.
Lawson and Steven Irvin (17 kills) combined for 36 kills and both provided well-rounded games. Lawson had 11 digs, four blocks and broke a school record with the first of his four services aces. The two-time first-team All-America has 119 career aces, breaking the mark of 115 by Duncan Blackman from 1989-92.
Irvin had eight digs and was among Stanford's defensive heroes that included Brian Cook, who made a fingertip dig that kept a key rally alive in the fifth set.
"Every play was valuable," Kosty said. "We got a couple of key plays with guys hitting the ground and keeping the ball alive."
Stanford had bolted to a 3-0 lead in the final set, but Pepperdine twice drew even, at 5-5 and 6-6. An Irvin kill followed by a Pepperdine attack error gave Stanford the gap it needed at 8-6. Pepperdine never caught the Cardinal again, with Torres hitting long on match point.
Next, Stanford plays the hottest team in the nation: No. 2 USC (17-4, 13-4), winners of 12 straight. Adding to the intrigue of Saturday's match is the location. The Kids' Choice Awards - a celebrity-studded night for the iCarly tweener crowd - will take place at the Trojans' usual home at the Galen Center.
The Stanford-USC match instead shifts to the venerable North Gym.
"It's even smaller than Burnham," Kosty said of Stanford's compact alternate home venue.
Stanford must figure out how to stop USC's hot-hitter Tony Ciarelli, a onetime beach partner of Cardinal setter Evan Barry. Ciarelli carved up Stanford for 28 kills in the Trojans' five-set victory at Maples Pavilion earlier this season.
"He's really elevated his game, which has allowed USC to raise it's game," Kosty said.
As No. 3 UCLA's shocking loss to UC San Diego on Friday showed, a minor slip could be costly.
"It's whoever can get hot right now," Kosty said. "That's what I love about this league. It's totally up for grabs."