Stanford posts 3-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara – Volleyball news
The Stanford Cardinal worked out a wonderful win on Friday night when they clashed with the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) rival UC Santa Barbara.
The match took place at Maples Pavilion, which provided a competitive edge to the Stanford squad. Equipped with all necessary tricks and tools of the game, the Cardinal cruised past to 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-20) victory over visiting Gauchos.
The senior outside hitter (OH) Brad Lawson played an instrumental role in Stanford’s victory. He actively participated in the attacks and notched up 16 kills with only one error. Senior defensive expert of Stanford, Erik Shoji, displayed an incredible feat
of volleyball with 14 digs. Moreover, the middle blocker Gus Ellis had a notable achievement in the match.
On UCSB’s side the trio of freshman outside hitter Kevin Donohue, Miles Evans, and Blaine Nielsen performed well. Donohue recorded 10 kills on 28 swings, while Evans and Nielsen put down 8 and 4 kills, respectively.
The opening set of the match featured a balanced action from both sides. The players of both teams had good energy in the start and showcased their game tactics in front of the spectators. The home team slightly paced things with convincing hits from Lawson.
At the same time, the Stanford libero Shoji did a great job at defence. He tackled some of the very difficult cross court shots from Gauchos and saved crucial points. The visiting team also responded well and continued putting more and more effort.
As a result the opening frame of the match saw 7 ties of score and two lead changes. The Cardinal produced 17 kills in response to UCSB’s 8 kills and claimed first set with six-point lead, 25-19.
With one victory in hand, the hosts put more pressure on the guests in the next set. The Gauchos tried to cover the deficit in second frame but faced utmost resistance from the Cardinal. They had a tough time to deal with the killing spikes and aces.
Furthermore, the setter of Stanford created more trouble for UCSB with his tricky bump passes. The Gauchos could only achieve a hitting percentage of .200 in second set, while the Cardinal enjoyed a great rhythm and hit with .538 %, which forced the visiting
team to suffer another set loss.
The Stanford hotshots were totally shaped up to finish the game in straight sets. They remained on the same winning course and did not allow UC Santa Barbara to come up in third set. Cardinal was in much more better position and closed third set (25-20),
which declared Stanford as the winning team. The Gauchos improved in third set but still the team could not match its performance with the Stanford.
Tags: