PHOENIX – No. 11 Stanford fell in four sets to No. 16 Ball State, 17-25, 18-25, 25-23, 23-25, Sunday, to close out the First Point Collegiate Challenge at the Phoenix Convention Center.
Stanford (0-3) hit .315 as a team, while Ball State (4-1) finished at a .382 clip. The Cardinals held an 8-2 advantage in aces and an 8.5 to 7.5 edge in blocks.
Opposite Moses Wagner led Stanford with 16 kills, four digs and three blocks. Outside hitter Theo Snoey added 14 kills on .367 hitting and six digs, while outside hitter Alex Rottman finished with 10 kills on a .381 attack percentage, five digs and five blocks.
The Cardinal utilized 13 different players in the match. Sophomore Ryan Gant started the match at setter, totaling 18 assists in two sets played. Freshman Jacob Little-Phillips made his Stanford debut, setting the final two frames. The Winter Park, Florida native recorded 24 assists, two digs and two kills.
Middle blockers Kaumana Carreira and Luke McFall started the match, playing in the first two sets. Each tallied two kills, while Carreira also notched a block.
Junior Gray Mandelbaum and sophomore Reed Wainwright took over in the middle in the third and fourth sets. Mandelbaum tallied one of Stanford’s two aces to go with three kills, two digs and a block. Wainwright finished with two kills and five blocks.
Sophomore libero Kai Schmitt collected three digs and three assists for the Cardinal. Freshman Luke Morrison came off the bench as a serving sub, recording his first collegiate ace.
Ball State was led by outside hitter Patrick Rogers, who had 17 kills on .577 hitting, seven digs, three blocks and three aces. Opposite Ryan Louis chipped in with 12 kills, three aces, three digs and four blocks for the Cardinals.
Stanford returns to The Farm to play host to No. 17 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday and Friday in Maples Pavilion.