UCLA
Stanford
Bruins Fall in Four at Stanford
January 22, 2013 | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 22, 2013
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UCLA and Stanford settled the fourth-place tie in the national rankings Tuesday with the advantage going to the Cardinal in four sets at Maples Pavilion.
In a nationally televised men's volleyball match Stanford prevailed 27-25, 19-25, 25-14, 25-12. The loss dropped the Bruins to 6-4 overall, 2-2 in MPSF play. Stanford, which halted a two-match losing skid, improved to 5-2, 2-2. The victory was also the Cardinal's 11th straight at home and sixth straight against the Bruins in Maples.
The match took a drastic turn in Stanford's favor when the Cardinal captured the third set with a 5-0 run that included three consecutive blocks on UCLA's Gonzalo Quiroga by the hosts' Eric Mochalski. At set point, Quiroga hit wide and the Cardinal took a 2-1 sets advantage.
The Bruins won the second set convincingly after letting a late four-point lead slip in the first. In the second set, UCLA took an 11-6 lead on Quiroga's ace and a cross-court kill by sophomore Kene Izuchukwu. After Stanford called its first timeout, Izuchukwu pushed the ball off the block for a 12-6 advantage that the Bruins maintained until a pair of kills by junior Robart Page sealed the set.
Set 4 was all Stanford as the hosts raced to an 11-6 lead before the Bruins called their first timeout. A Stanford ace after the timeout set the tone for the rest of the set: the Bruins would score just six more points.
Page led the Bruins with 18 kills (.325) and 20,5 points. Quiroga added 12 kills, followed by Izuchukwu with nine.
Steven Irvin and Daniel Tublin led the Cardinal with 14 kills each.
UCLA travels to Pacific on Sun., Jan. 27 for a 2 p.m. conference match before returning home to face UC Irvine on Jan. 29.
