STANFORD, Calif. - The 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team dropped a four set decision to No. 2 Stanford 30-18, 30-20, 28-30, 30-20 on Friday night at Maples Pavilion.
Joel Davidson led the Tritons with 17 kills while
Carl Eberts added 10 kills on .364 hitting. The Tritons did hit at a .290 clip in the first set, however Stanford committed only one attack error in that same set and hit .571. It was hard for the Tritons to gain momentum in the match as Stanford held a 17.0 - 6.5 edge in the blocking department. With the loss, UCSD drops to 5-13, 2-11 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while Stanford improves to 11-4, 9-4 MPSF.
Also for the Tritons, Cyrus Kiani and Alex Simon added nine kills apiece. Erik Sierks led the way with 34 assists while Andrew Kaban had eight digs.
Stanford was led by Brad Lawson with 18 kills on .552 hitting while Evan Romero added 16 kills. Stanford hit at a team .402 average while holding the Tritons to a .203 mark.
Stanford scored five of the first seven points of the first set, only to see the Tritons claim the lead with an 8-2 run after a Frank Fritsch kill at 10-8. Stanford went on a 10-2 run to take an 18-12 lead and cruised to the 30-18 win.
In the second set, the Cardinal continued with their momentum and took an 11-7 lead and later an 18-12 advantage. Stanford led 25-15 and easily took set two 30-20.
Stanford looked to be headed toward a sweep, taking an 8-3 lead in the third set. This time UCSD battled back and tied the set at 17-17 on a Calvin Ross kill. The Tritons led 27-25 before Stanford came back within a point at 29-28. A Kiani kill gave UCSD the set three win at 30-28.
Stanford was too much in the fourth set, jumping out to a quick 18-9 advantage. Stanford would cruise to the 30-20 win.
UCSD is back in action tomorrow night when it takes on Pacific in Stockton. First serve is set for 8:00 p.m. at the Spanos Center.