Stanford Aces Cal Baptist

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – Behind a season high 13 service aces, the No. 14 Stanford men’s volleyball team defeated California Baptist University, 25-12, 24-26, 25-20, 25-19, Thursday, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.

“We spent this week practicing on specific things and I thought we came out and did exactly what we practiced,” said head coach John Kosty after the match. “That is something that is going to help us through the end of this season.

“Serving was one of the things we focused on this week, being able to hit our serves confidently and place it where we wanted it to go, and I thought we did a really nice job of that tonight. We were able to keep the pressure on Cal Baptist and I liked how we grinded out the match.”

The win moves the Cardinal (10-13, 7-10 MPSF) into sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Stanford still has five matches remaining in the regular season, all against top-15 opponents.

For just the fourth time this season and for the first time in MPSF play, Stanford hit over .300 for the match coming in at .312. Freshman setter Kyle Dagostino controlled the offense, evenly distributing the ball to the Cardinal outside hitters, who all had at least 30 attacks.

“Spreading out the defense is something that all offenses try to do,” explained Kosty. “The goal is to spread the middle blocker out and be able to attack efficiently from the pins.”

Spread out the offense he did. Fifth-year senior outside hitter Daniel Tublin led the Cardinal with a season high 18 kills on 30 swings with just three errors to hit .500. He also tallied three aces and six digs. Redshirt sophomore opposite Gabriel Vega took 33 swings, connecting for 17 kills on a .364 attack percentage.

“Gabo [Vega] had a good, solid match that he has had over the last month of the season,” added Kosty. “I thought Tubs [Tublin] came out and was a man on a mission, too. This was exactly the match that he wanted to come out and play, and he did it. That’s what we need out of that position.”

Junior outside hitter Madison Hayden was the third Cardinal player to register double-digit kills, finishing with 11. He paced the squad with a season-best five aces. Senior middle blocker Spencer Haly went 4-0-8 and collected four digs and two blocks.

What won’t appear in the stat sheet is the play of fifth-year senior Grant Delgado. The Rolling Hills Estates, California native came off the bench in all four sets to give the Cardinal a spark down the stretch.

“Grant Delgado has really stepped up for us this year,” said Kosty. “He has been our clutch player in crunch time, coming in and serving. Getting an ace tonight, getting us point-runs late in games, making that dig or that pass, I think he is one of the unsung heroes of the match tonight. His steady play deep within sets allowing us to finish out strong.”

Freshman libero Evan Enriques anchored the defense for the Cardinal. He finished with a team-high 10 digs, marking the fourth time this season he has tallied double-digits digs.

“I thought Evan came back strong this week in practice and he passed really efficiently tonight,” said Kosty. “Defensively, he positioned himself well and was nice and still. He took care of the balls he could and that was part of the reason we were so steady through the match.”

Senior Jonathan Tuttle led Cal Baptist (6-19, 2-17 MPSF) with 13 kills and six digs. Libero Kevin Kustura recorded 10 digs to pace the Lancer defense.

Stanford concludes its homestand on Saturday, April 4 against eighth-ranked USC. First serve is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks. Admission is free.