STANFORD, Calif. – Despite a season-high 28 kills from Jaylen Jasper, No. 13 Stanford came up short in a 25-18, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 9-15 loss to No. 8 Pepperdine, Thursday, in Maples Pavilion.
Jasper was one kill shy of his career-high and hit .400 for the match. The junior added 11 digs for his third double-double of the season. He was also in on two blocks and registered an ace for the Cardinal.
Stanford (4-5, 0-2 MPSF) hit .274 and held Pepperdine (4-2, 1-0 MPSF) to a .234 clip, out digging the Waves 50-39. However, Pepperdine out blocked the Cardinal 14.5 to 4.5, proving to be the difference in the match.
Redshirt freshman Justin Lui started his third straight match at setter. He turned in his first career double-double with career-bests in assists (52) and digs (15). True freshman Nathan Lietzke made his collegiate debut, coming off the bench in the second set.
Stanford forced a decisive fifth set using a 12-1 run to close out the fourth. Lui was at the service line for the final eight points.
Leo Henken became the third different Cardinal to don the libero jersey this season. The junior finished with 10 digs and three assists.
Freshman outside hitter Will Rottman was the only other Cardinal player in double-digits with 11 kills. Senior outside hitter Eric Beatty and middle blockers Stephen Moye and Kyler Presho all notched seven kills. Moye hit .545 and had two blocks.
Pepperdine was led by freshman Jacob Steele's 13 kills and 12 digs. Noah Dyer added 10 kills and five blocks for the Waves.
Stanford is back in action on Saturday against No. 7 UCLA. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles. The Cardinal will welcome back to The Farm members of its 2010 NCAA championship team.