STANFORD, Calif. – The seventh-ranked Stanford men's volleyball team was swept by No. 3 Long Beach State, 30-28, 25-14, 25-18, Saturday at the Pyramid.
Playing in its second match in less than 24 hours, the Cardinal (6-4, 3-2 MPSF) came out strong but tapered off after a tough 30-28 loss in the opening set. Stanford hit .355 in the first with 15 kills on 31 swings.
For the match, Long Beach State (9-2, 5-1 MPSF) hit .418 while holding Stanford to a .122 clip. The 49ers held a 11.0-6.0 advantage in blocks and committed just 10 hitting errors. Long Beach State also put down six aces, while freshman Mason Tufuga tallied the only ace for the Cardinal.
Offensively, redshirt senior Gabriel Vega led all players with 13 kills on a .476 hitting percentage, a season-high. No other Stanford player recorded more than three kills as the Cardinal combined for just 16 kills in the second and third sets.
Freshman Paul Bischoff and junior Kyle Dagostino split time at setter, registering 14 and 11, respectively. Dagostino also racked-up a team-high seven digs, while junior libero Evan Enriques finished with six. Redshirt junior middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw added three kills and four blocks.
Sophomore Kyle Ensing led Long Beach State with 12 kills on a .360 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Josh Tuaniga finished with 32 assists and six kills on a .667 attack percentage.
Stanford returns to The Farm on Thursday, Feb. 9 to play host to No. 2 UCLA. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
