Cardinal Falls at Hawai'i

Box Score

HONOLULU – The 15th-ranked Stanford men’s volleyball team dropped a close decision at No. 1 Hawai’i, 25-17, 25-22, 26-24, Friday, at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Cardinal falls to 10-15 overall and to 7-12 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Rainbow Warriors, who have won 15 in a row, improve to 22-3 and 17-2 in conference.

Hawai’i hit .330 as a team, while holding Stanford to a .128 clip. The Rainbow Warriors also registered 15.5 team blocks, 10 more than the Cardinal, which committed 22 attack errors. Stanford continued to serve and pass well, posting five service aces and limiting itself to nine errors.

After coming up short in the first two sets, Stanford held a 24-22 lead late in the third. However, the Rainbow Warriors reeled off four-straight to seal the win down the stretch.

In a homecoming for redshirt sophomore Gabriel Vega, who is a Kailua, Hawai’i native, he turned in a match-high 14 kills to go with six digs and two aces. Junior outside hitter Madison Hayden added 10 kills and three digs.

The Cardinal utilized the same starting lineup for the fifth straight match, which is a season high. Freshman libero turned setter Kyle Dagostino, who is starting in place of the injured James Shaw, racked up 32 assists while directing the offense.

Freshman libero Evan Enriques, who hails from Punalu’u, Hawai’i on the Big Island, tallied a team-high 11 digs. It marks just the fifth match in which he has recorded double-digit digs.

Sinisa Zarkovic led Hawai'i with 12 kills and six blocks. Libero Kolby Kanetake collected 17 digs, half of the Rainbow Warriors' total.

Stanford and Hawai’i will square off again on Saturday, April 11 at 10 p.m. PT. It will be senior night in the Stan Sheriff Center.