Stanford men’s volleyball sweeps Saint Francis

No. 18 Stanford men’s volleyball (7-8, 4-0 MPSF) aced the weekend, sweeping Saint Francis (7-8, 1-1 NEC) in back-to-back straight-set victories.

Following a bye week, the Cardinal returned to Burnham Pavillion recharged and hungry for competition. On Friday night, they hit a season-best 0.478 attack percentage, simultaneously holding the Red Flash to a 0.090 hitting percentage, the third lowest by a Cardinal opponent this season.

On offense, senior opposite hitter Moses Wagner led the team with 15 kills, aided by freshman setter Jacob Little-Phillips, who totaled 26 assists, three digs, a block and a kill. The Stanford defense was bolstered by freshman outside hitter Erik Ask and sophomore middle blocker Kaumana Carreira, who put up three blocks and two blocks, respectively, and sophomore libero Evan Porter, who collected a match-high 7 digs. Their combined efforts helped the Cardinal secure each set, going 25-16, 25-21, 25-21.

The momentum carried into the following evening, when Stanford decisively beat Saint Francis 25-17, 25-13, 25-23. 

Sophomore outside hitter David Wolff, who registered a career and match-high 11 kills on a career-best 0.647 hitting on Saturday, attributed the win to fresh energy on the court. 

“I thought it was good to have a new lineup out there today,” he said. “The competition within our own gym pushes us to be better against other teams.”

Along with Wolff, the Cardinal started redshirt junior middle blocker Luke McFall, redshirt junior outside hitter Alex Rottman, Little-Phillips, Wagner, Carreira and Porter on Saturday night. In the opening play, the Red Flash came at them strong, with a decisive kill by graduate middle blocker Nicholas Lynch securing Saint Francis the first point of the match. 

Wagner responded in kind with a kill that ricocheted off of the Red Flash blockers, but Saint Francis continued to lead through the next several rallies, boosted by Stanford service errors and an ace from Lynch. Undeterred, the Cardinal tied up the set at 5-5 and gained the ensuing four consecutive points with an ace by Wolff, a kill and a block from Carreira, and a Saint Francis attack soaring out of bounds. While the Red Flash managed to get within three points at 10-7, Stanford only widened their lead in the following rallies, taking the set 25-17.

The Cardinal emerged dominant in the second set. Little-Phillips ran off the court to keep the ball in play, and Wagner capitalized on his assist with a powerful kill. Despite four net serves (two from each team) in a row starting at 5-2, both sides had moments of opportunity: kills by Wolff and Carreira, an ace from Little-Phillips and blocks from Wagner and Carreira earned points on the Stanford end. An ace by Saint Francis senior outside hitter Brady Stump momentarily gave the Red Flash a fighting chance. Still, the Cardinal held on to their early lead, and a kill from Wolff secured them the set, 25-13. 

The third set was the tightest of the night, with 5 tie scores and 3 lead changes. As in the first set, Saint Francis took the first point off of a kill. They followed that with a net serve, however, allowing the Cardinal to take the next two points through a kill from Wolff and an ace by Rottman. In the middle rallies, the score remained within two points. The Red Flash briefly took the lead at 11-10 off of a Stanford block gone out of bounds, but the Cardinal quickly countered with another Rottman ace. Although a kill by Saint Francis senior setter Brayden Kuruzovich tied the score at 14-14, Stanford regained the lead with a kill from Wagner and kept it until the very end. One last kill from Rottman sent the Red Flash packing, earning Stanford the set, 25-23.  

Saturday’s victory marks Stanford’s fourth win in a row. As a team, the Cardinal hit 0.460, totaling 36 kills, 22 digs, 7.0 blocks and a season-high eight aces.

Up next, Stanford remains on The Farm to host MPSF opponent No. 6 BYU (15-4, 2-0 MPSF).

“A big important stretch of the season is coming up,” said Wolff. “So, we are just hoping to get ready, practice hard in the practice gym and keep working to get better.”

The Cardinal will face off against the Cougars in Maples Pavillion this Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m.

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