California Baptist University
3-11, 1-9MPSF
Stanford
9-5, 6-3MPSF
CBU Takes Stanford to Five
2/18/2017 11:02:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – California Baptist University took sixth-ranked Stanford to the wire Saturday night, just dropping a 3-2 match (25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-11).
The Lancers drop to 3-11 on the season, 1-9 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Cardinal improves to 9-5 overall and 6-3 in conference play with the win.
Kevin Vaz led with a new career-high of 25 kills (25-12-35) on the match – after previously setting a career best of 20 kills on Thursday – and posted two blocks, including one solo stuff. Luis Palos also had a double-digit night, finishing with 11 kills. Defensively, he had three blocks and six digs. Rohit Paul posted nine kills and 10 digs to be just one kill shy of a double-double, while Caleb Miller had eight kills and three blocks. Jacob Tarabetz finished the night with a career-high 52 assists.
Stanford opened the match swinging, but CBU held up the defensive end, keeping Stanford runs at bay. The Cardinal managed to take the first set, however, 25-20.
CBU exploded into set two, taking hold of the set early and maintaining a two-point cushion between the Cardinal. The set was back-and-forth as the two teams battled for the lead. Service errors allowed Stanford to take the lead before a kill by Vaz quickly evened out the score.
Late in the set holding onto a 22-20 lead, an ace by Paul forced a Stanford timeout and sparked a 2-0 run in CBU's favor by Miller and Palos. Miller came up with the final kill of the set to seal the deal, giving the Lancers the 25-20 set victory to even the match 1-1.
Momentum carried into the third as the Lancers burst out on a 5-0 run, forcing another Cardinal timeout. A dominant offense put the pressure on Stanford and sent CBU running away with the set as the home team never relinquished its lead, claiming the set 25-17 to jump in front 2-1 in the match.
Stanford regained its footing in the fourth, capitalizing off service errors to take the set 25-16 and force a fifth and deciding set.
The Cardinal held onto the lead early in the fifth, despite CBU's efforts for a comeback. Stanford managed to keep the comeback attempt at bay, however, securing the 15-11 set victory to take the match 3-2.
CBU heads out on the road for its next 10 matches before returning home on March 30 to host UC Santa Barbara. The Lancers first take on No. 2-ranked Long Beach State on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
