| LINESCORE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | ||
| USC (15-8, 13-7) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 | |
| Stanford (10-14, 7-11) | 23 | 22 | 18 | 0 | |
| STAT COMPARISON | ||
|---|---|---|
| USC | STAN | |
| Kills | 47 | 36 |
| Attack pct. | .362 | .267 |
| Assists | 45 | 33 |
| Aces | 6 | 5 |
| Digs | 32 | 31 |
| Blocks | 9.5 | 9.0 |
STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 14 Stanford men’s volleyball team dropped a 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 decision to eighth-ranked USC, Saturday, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California. The Cardinal fall to 10-14 over and to 7-11 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Trojans move to 15-8 and 13-7 in conference.
“We are getting better, and that is what we are striving for,” said head coach John Kosty. “USC is a good team. They came out and played well. I thought we had some good opportunities. It was a little tough on us trying to battle from behind, but I thought we hung in there in the first two games.”
Stanford hung with the Trojans throughout the first two sets. The Cardinal outhit USC .321 to .250 in the opening set, but was unable to regain the lead. Stanford also stuck around in the second set, hitting .333 while the Trojans posted a .364 clip.
The loss puts the Cardinal into a tie with UCLA for the eighth and final playoff spot in the MPSF. The teams will meet in Maples on Friday, April 17.
Redshirt sophomore opposite Gabriel Vega led the team with 11 kills on a .375 attack percentage to go with three blocks and two digs. Junior Madison Hayden added nine kills, five blocks and three service aces. Fifth-year senior Daniel Tublin recorded seven kills and seven digs for the Cardinal. Middle blockers Conrad Kaminski and Spencer Haly each tallied four blocks, finishing with five and three kills, respectively.
Freshman setter Kyle Dagostino racked up 25 assists and five digs while controlling the offense. Freshman libero Evan Enriques finished with a team-best eight digs. Fifth-year senior Grant Delgado came off the bench in all three sets, totaling five digs.
“Kyle has done a great job for us,” explained Kosty. “He came in as a high school club setter, but as a highly recruited libero. Due to some circumstances he has been put back into that setter position. He has done a tremendous job for us.”
USC was led by Alex Slaught’s 16 kills and five digs. He committed just two attack errors to post a .483 hitting percentage. No other Trojan had more than seven kills.
“I thought [Alex] Slaught had a nice match against us tonight,” added Kosty. “He played really well. He was the tough one for us to try and slow down. He was the x-factor.”
Stanford hits the road next week, travelling to top-ranked Hawai’i for two matches in Honolulu April 10-11. First serve is scheduled for 10 p.m. PT for both matches.
“I thought we served really well over the weekend. We have a little bit of work now to get ourselves into that last playoff position. I am confident that this team can keep getting better and we will see what the future hold,” said Kosty.