NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Behind senior outside hitter Brian Cook, the eighth-ranked Stanford men’s volleyball team swept Cal State Northridge, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22, Saturday, at The Matadome in Northridge, Calif. The Cardinal improves to 10-7 overall and 7-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Matadors drop to 5-10 overall and 5-9 in the conference.
“It was a nice team win tonight,” said head coach John Kosty after the match. “Everyone contributed in the win. We came out focused and played at a high level. Overall, everyone was more consistent for us.”
Cook led all players with 18 kills on 23 attempts with just two errors to hit .696. His 18 kills were the most by a Cardinal player in a three-set match this season.
“I thought Brian Cook did a nice job for us this weekend,” added Kosty. “He had another great match, and has been an excellent leader in helping us be successful.”
Senior outside hitter Steven Irvin finished with 11 kills on a .474 attack percentage, while senior opposite Eric Mochalski also tallied 11 kills. Sophomore middle Conrad Kaminski added six kills and a match-best seven blocks.
Sophomore setter James Shaw registered 39 assists, while redshirt junior libero Grant Delgado totaled a match-high eight digs. Redshirt junior Daniel Tublin came off the bench to notch both of the Cardinal’s service aces.
As a team, Stanford hit a season-high .456 and registered 50 kills, the most in a three-set match this year. The Cardinal held the Matadors to a .197 attack percentage and just 27 kills as a team. It marks the fifth time this season the Cardinal has held its opponent’s hitting percentage to under .200. Stanford won the opening point in all three sets and never allowed the Matadors to put together any kind of scoring runs.
Stanford remains on the road next week, travelling back to southern California. The Cardinal takes on No. 4 Pepperdine on Friday, March 7 in Malibu, Calif., and No. 7 USC on Sunday, March 9 in Los Angeles.