California Baptist University
Stanford
Taking A Stand
1/16/2015 9:53:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – There was no rest for California Baptist University, as it faced its third top-15 ranked team in its first five matches of the season Friday in No. 12 Stanford.
Despite going in as an underdog and dropping the first set, the Lancers scrapped and took the Cardinal to five sets, but ultimately fell 3-2 in the Van Dyne Gym, 25-16, 15-25, 28-30, 25-15, 15-11.
The Lancers received a number of standout performances, as they fell to 2-3, 0-2 in the MPSF; Stanford improved to 2-2, 1-0. Giovanni Llinas Rosa recorded his first double-double of the year for CBU, with 10 kills on a .368 hitting percentage and 13 digs. Zachary Melcher had 46 assists, six digs, five blocks and an ace on the night for CBU.
Four Lancers finished with double-digit kills, led by Jonathan Tuttle's 17. Enrique de Diego Garcia had 12 kills, with just three errors, on 20 attempts for a .450 percentage, while Rocky DeLyon also had 10 kills.
Defensively, CBU out-blocked (29-24) and out-dug (36-33) the Cardinal. Daniel Maurer had a match-high eight blocks to go along with four kills on seven swings for the Lancers, who received seven blocks and one solo wall from Garcia and five stuffs from DeLyon. Kevin Kustura also ended the night with seven digs.
Stanford managed to take the first set, 25-16, but the tables were turned in the second. Tied at 9-9 in the second frame, the Lancers used a 5-1 run – highlighted by kills from Rosa and Maurer – to take a 14-10 lead. Another 6-1 run sparked by two DeLyon kills and another from Garcia gave the Lancers a big 20-13 advantage. A 5-2 CBU run ended the set, with kills from Tuttle and Rosa setting up a set-sealing ace from Roy Powell.
After that, both teams wanted to swing momentum in their favor, which set up a crash course in the third set. There were 18 ties in the frame and no team held more than a three-point lead in the set.
The Lancers led 20-17 after a kill from Tuttle, but Stanford came all the way back and tied the set at 21, which started a run of ties at 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28, as well. A Cardinal attacking error gave the Lancers set point and DeLyon closed it out with a strong kill.
Stanford repeated its first-set success in the fourth, taking it 25-15, and then jumped out to a 7-3 edge in the fifth. Kills from Rosa and Tuttle pulled CBU within 7-5 but the Cardinal extended its advantage back to 9-5.
The Lancers were forced to call a timeout, with Stanford still holding a four-point, 11-7 cushion. CBU responded and gave itself renewed hope, as it closed within 12-10 after two Stanford attacking errors and a Garcia spike. The home team stayed within tow, 13-11, after a Cardinal error, but Stanford regrouped, took match point on a crucial kill and scratched out the final point for the win.
After two matches at home, CBU will hit the road and visit sixth-ranked UC Irvine on Tuesday. The Lancers return for another two-match stand in the Van Dyne Gym against UC San Diego and the Anteaters on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at 7 p.m.
