STANFORD, Calif. – Three Cardinal recorded double-digit kills as the eighth-ranked Stanford men's volleyball team outlasted No. 4 UCLA, 29-27, 25-27, 23-25, 29-27, 15-11, Thursday in Maples Pavilion.
Led by sophomore outside hitter Jordan Ewert, who finished with a career-high 22 kills on .439 hitting, Stanford (7-4, 4-2 MPSF) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to top UCLA (9-4, 6-3 MPSF) in the only regular-season meeting between the two teams this season. It was Stanford's first five-set match in 2017.
Stanford steadily improved its offensive efficiency throughout the match, posting a .356 attack percentage overall while UCLA hit .333. Both teams committed its share of service errors – UCLA (29), Stanford (25), and each team put down three aces. UCLA held a 9.5 to 8.5 edge in blocks.
Freshman opposite Mason Tufuga, who made his first collegiate start against the Bruins, registered a career-best 19 kills on .394 hitting, five digs and three blocks. Redshirt senior outside hitter Gabriel Vega added 10 kills and four digs for the Cardinal.
Stanford's middle blockers, redshirt junior Kevin Rakestraw and freshman Stephen Moye, each tallied seven kills, while Rakestraw totaled four blocks and Moye had three. Three of Rakestraw's blocks came on Stanford set-points. In the first and fourth sets they were solo, while he teamed up with freshman Paul Bischoff to finished off the Bruins on match-point in the fifth.
Let's revisit match-point from tonight's win over No. 4 UCLA » https://t.co/I4q8gtYEqV
— Men's Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) February 10, 2017
Junior Kyle Dagostino started at setter for the second time this season. The Tampa, Florida native racked-up a season-high 48 assists and 11 digs for just the second double-double by a Stanford player this season. Junior libero Evan Enriques collected 10 digs and a career-best five assists, marking his fourth double-digit dig performance this season.
UCLA was led by JT Hatch and Dylan Missry, who totaled 19 and 13 kills, respectively. Senior setter/opposite Hagen Smith posted a double-double with 12 kills and 34 assists. The Bruins have now dropped three consecutive matches.
Stanford wraps-up the week on Saturday, Feb. 11 against No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Maples Pavilion.