California Baptist University
Stanford
Cardinal Rank
4/5/2014 3:23:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
PALO ALTO, Calif. --- California Baptist University couldn't hold off a powerful No. 4-ranked Stanford, dropping three sets Friday night (25-13, 25-14, 25-15).
The Lancers drop to 4-21 on the season and 2-19 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action, while the Cardinal improves to 18-7 overall and 15-7.
Joel Blocksom led CBU with 11 kills on .421 hitting percentage.
The Cardinal got out to a strong start in set one, opening with a 4-0 drive. Rocky DeLyon slammed down a kill to cut the spree, but Stanford went on another big run.
Despite getting kills, CBU surrendered costly service errors to hand the ball back over to the Cardinal. Stanford built up a 23-12 lead and although Kristopher Johnson powered down a kill from Brett Anderson, it wasn't enough to derail the home squad as the Lancers dropped the first set 25-13.
CBU took the court in the second hoping to shake off the first, but Stanford made things difficult with another 5-0 run. The Lancers couldn't hold off the Cardinal, dropping the second set 25-14.
The Lancers came out determined in the third and grabbed the first point off a kill from Blocksom. Stanford took the lead 3-2, but CBU hung with the host team 3-3 off a kill from Joshua Jones.
Each team exchanged points until Stanford scored four-straight points to hold a 14-10 advantage over CBU. The Lancers called a timeout hoping to regroup and got a kill from DeLyon to stay close to the Cardinal.
Stanford took off, however, scoring five-straight before the Lancers could get another point. The Cardinal came within match-point at 24-13, but CBU stayed alive with back-to-back points off a kill from Blocksom and a block from Blocksom and Jones.
CBU couldn't put together any more momentum, though, as Stanford took the final point to take the third 25-15 and win the match.
The Lancers turn right around to face Pacific tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in what's sure to be an emotional night for the Tigers, as Saturday night marks the last-ever home men's volleyball match for Pacific.
