STANFORD, Calif. – Despite holding No. 3 UC Santa Barbara to a season-low hitting percentage, No. 8 Stanford dropped a 25-21, 25-18, 25-18 decision to the Gauchos, Saturday, at Maples Pavilion.
UC Santa Barbara (6-0) entered the match hitting .414 on the season. The Cardinal (4-3) held the Gauchos to a .198 clip. UCSB's previous season-low was .351.
With its available personnel, Stanford started redshirt freshman Justin Lui, who had played libero the previous six matches, at setter and junior JP Reilly at libero. It was the fourth different starting lineup for the Cardinal this season.
While the offense struggled, Stanford was solid defensively, getting touches on a lot of balls with its block. The Cardinal finished with 10.0 team blocks, led by senior Stephen Moye's six. Reilly picked up a career-high 12 of Stanford's 35 digs.
Junior opposite Jaylen Jasper registered a match-high 11 kills and had five digs, two blocks and an ace. Freshman outside hitter Will Rottman, a native of Santa Barbara, hit .304 with eight kills and had four blocks, three digs and an ace.
Senior Eric Beatty turned in nine digs to go with three kills and a solo block. Junior middle blocker Kyler Presho added three blocks, including one solo, two kills and an ace.
UC Santa Barbara, which has not lost a set this season, was led by Roy McFarland and Randy DeWeese who each had nine kills. The Gauchos finished with 10.5 blocks and 42 digs.
Stanford opens MPSF play on the road next week, traveling to Grand Canyon on Saturday, Feb. 1.