March 8, 2013
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - No. 4 Stanford got 15 kills from Brian Cook, but struggled in a 25-18, 25-19, 25-19 loss to No. 14 UC Santa Barbara in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball play on Friday.
Stanford (12-7 overall, 9-7 MPSF), playing without regular setter James Shaw, was limited to a .165 hitting percentage, its' second lowest of the season, and 35 kills. Cook and Steven Irvin (11 kills) combined for 26 of them.
Stanford led in each set, but never past 15 points as UCSB (8-12, 7-10) had the finishing skill to win each going away and end the Cardinal's three-match winning streak.
Stanford next plays UCLA on Sunday at noon in a match televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. It will mark Stanford's final contest before a 19-day break for dead week and finals.