MALIBU, Calif. – Moses Wagner led the team with 11 kills, but No. 14 Stanford fell in straight sets at No. 5 Pepperdine, 20-25, 19-25, 17-25, Friday, at Firestone Fieldhouse.
Stanford (9-13, 6-5 MPSF) was held to .173 hitting for the match, while Pepperdine (19-5, 10-1 MPSF) posted a .580 clip – the highest by a Cardinal opponent this season.
Senior Theoren Brouillette started the match at setter, totaling 22 assists, a team-high five digs, two aces and a kill. Outside hitter Alex Rottman chipped in with six kills and a dig.
The Cardinal struggled defensively, notching just 11 digs and 1.0 block for the match. Sophomore libero Evan Porter, who leads the MPSF in digs per set, was limited to just three on Friday to go with three assists.
Middle blocker Luke McFall hit .400 with five kills on 10 swings with just one miscue. The senior alto tallied two aces and a block. Sophomore Kaumana Carreira started the match at middle, but was replaced in the second by sophomore Reed Wainwright, who finished with four kills on six errorless swings.
Junior Nate Clinton started the match at outside hitter but had just one kill and an assist in two sets played. Sophomore David Wolff replaced Clinton in the second and totaled two kills and an ace.
Pepperdine had three players post double-digit kills, led by Jose Gomez’s match-high 14 on .632 hitting. Ryan Barnett hit a blistering .706 with 13 kills on 17 swings with just one error, while Cole Hartke also registered 13 kills on a .476 attack percentage.
Stanford and Pepperdine square off again on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse.