Comeback CompleteComeback Complete
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Men's Volleyball

Comeback Complete

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – Down 0-2 after a marathon second set, the No. 8 Stanford men's volleyball team rallied back to defeat No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, 23-25, 41-43, 26-24, 25-15, 15-10, Saturday in Maples Pavilion.
 
It was the second-consecutive five-set match win for the Cardinal, which improved to 8-4 overall and 5-2 in the MPSF. Stanford out hit UC Santa Barbara (6-7, 3-7 MPSF) .253 to .217 with a season-high 84 kills on 194 swings. The Cardinal is now tied with Hawai'i for third in the conference, just a half a match behind second-place BYU.
 
Sophomore Jordan Ewert surpassed his career high set on Thursday with a match-best 26 kills to go with nine digs and three blocks. Redshirt junior middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw also recorded a career-high with 19 kills on .586 hitting and five blocks.
 
Stanford found itself in an 0-2 hole after failing to convert on 12 set-points in the second. With 25 tie scores and 11 lead changes, it was the longest set played by Stanford since a 41-39 loss to Pepperdine on March 29, 2003.
 


Redshirt senior outside hitter Gabriel Vega and freshman opposite Mason Tufuga also registered double-digit kills for the Cardinal. Vega finished with a season-high 16 on .303 hitting, six digs, four blocks and Stanford's only service ace. Tufuga added 13 kills, six digs and three blocks.
 
Junior Kyle Dagostino started the match at setter for Stanford, totaling 13 assists and seven digs in four sets played. Freshman Paul Bischoff took over and posted his second career double-double with career-highs in assists (55) and digs (13).
 
Stanford picked up its defensive intensity as the match went on. The Cardinal racked-up a season high 60 digs as a team, led by junior libero Evan Enriques. The Punalu'u, Hawai'i native finished with a season-best 15 digs and matched his career-high with five assists.
 


As a team, Stanford tallied 14.0 blocks, with freshman Stephen Moye pacing the squad with a career-high eight. The Cardinal limited the Gauchos to just three kills in the final frame, forcing UCSB to hit -.200
 
The Gauchos were led by redshirt senior outside hitter Jacob Delson's 19 kills, 11 digs, five blocks and two aces. Freshman setter Randy Deweese finished with 56 assists, 10 digs, five kills and four blocks for UCSB.
 
Stanford hits the road next week to face USC on Thursday, Feb. 16 and Cal Baptist on Saturday, Feb. 18. Thursday's match against the Trojans will be televised live at 6 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.