Ramblers Win in Three

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – The 10th-ranked Stanford men’s volleyball team was swept 25-22, 25-13, 25-18 by second-ranked Loyola Chicago, Saturday, in the final match of the first AVCA Men’s Volleyball Showcase in Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal drop to 1-2 on the year, while the Ramblers improve to 2-0.

“This is a long season. You can’t win a national championship in January,” said head coach John Kosty. “We have a long way to go. Our pin hitters are going to continually get better and they are going to understand what they need to do in situations. Loyola and Lewis put us in some tough situations and I thought it was great, we are going to learn from it.”

In what was technically a rematch of the 2014 NCAA title match by the names on the jerseys, however, the Cardinal felt the absence of Brian Cook, Steven Irvin and Eric Mochalski, who all graduated last year. The Cardinal was held to a .164 team hitting percentage, committing 15 attack errors. Loyola, on the other hand, was firing on all cylinders, posting a .485 attack percentage and totaling 10.0 team blocks.

“The fun part is that all of the guys on this team right now practiced against our elite team last year,” explained Kosty. “They understand what they need to do, but it is a different story when you get on the court.

“That’s exactly what we wanted to get out of this weekend, to play some of the top teams in the country to get our new starters an opportunity to play at a really high level.”

Junior middle blocker Conrad Kaminski led Stanford with 5 kills on a .300 attack percentage. Fifth-year senior Daniel Tublin also tallied five kills to go with four digs. Juniors Madison Hayden and Alex Stephanus added four kills apiece.

Redshirt sophomore Gabriel Vega had three kills on .333 hitting, sparking a Cardinal run to open the third set.

“Gabriel is a solid player that we are really high on,” said Kosty. “We like both of our opposites. What Vega gives us is that explosive ability that we love to get on the court. Alex has been steady all fall and that is exactly what we got from him this weekend, good and steady. Vega gives us that instant burst and that emotion that helped us during the first part of that third set.”

Junior setter James Shaw finished with 22 assists, two kills and three digs for the Cardinal. Redshirt freshman Kevin Rakestraw, who earned his first career start, added three kills and a block in two sets played.

The Ramblers were led by Cody Caldwell’s 10 kills and four blocks. All-American Thomas Jaeschke added nine kills on 14 errorless swings to hit .643. Setter Peter Hutz finished with 31 assists and was 3-0-3 offensively for Loyola.

Stanford hits the road next week for the first time in 2015. The Cardinal opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play at Cal Baptist on Friday, Jan. 16. Stanford will then face No. 7 USC in Los Angeles on Monday, Jan. 19 on the Pac-12 Networks.