Feb. 15, 2008

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific men's volleyball team rallied from a two-game deficit to force a decisive fifth game, but dropped to 1-12 overall (1-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) with a 30-26, 30-19, 24-30, 30-32, 15-11 loss to No. 10 Stanford on Friday, Feb. 15, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

The Tigers needed two games two get themselves started as Pacific hit .194 in the first frame and -.091 during game two. Stanford meanwhile, posted totals of .423 and .393 in route to 30-26 and 30-19 victories.

With their backs to the wall, Pacific responded with everything they had left to force the match to the brink.

Pacific altered its lineup slightly as game three started, inserting junior Jeff Hendershot (Claremont, Calif.) as well as freshmen Justin Burridge (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Kris Staks (Park Ridge, Ill.). The new lineup energized the Tigers as Pacific raised its hitting percentage more than .400 points to .378. The move started paying dividends early as Pacific jumped out to a 4-1 lead behind a solo block from Burridge, a kill from Hendersot, an ace by sophomore Jason Borchin (Roseville, Calif.) and a Stanford error.

Midway through game three the Tigers began to separate themselves from the Cardinal. Leading 12-10, a thunderous kill from Hendershot on the outside followed by a Stanford attack error forced Cardinal head coach John Kosty to use his first timeout. Out of the break, senior Pekka Seppanen (Kuopio, Finland) nailed his second kill of the game to push Pacific's lead to 15-10. The Tigers never let Stanford any closer the two points the rest of the way, taking game three, 30-24. As the Tigers' offense amped up in game two, they also pumped up their defense as well, holding Stanford to just a .103 hitting percentage by forcing eight errors on 39 attempts.

Unlike any of the first three games, the fourth frame did not end in the favor of the team nabbing the early lead. Stanford hit the floor with renewed intensity and built a 18-13 lead, forcing Pacific head coach Joe Wortmann to use his first timeout. The break allowed Pacific to regain their composure and begin an intense comeback.

Borchin kicked off the Tigers' charge by drawing the floor from the right side of the court. Follwing a Stanford attack error, Borchin served up his third ace of the match to pull the Tigers within two at 18-16. Trailing 20-17 moments later, Pacific triggered another spurt with a triple block in the middle from Hendershot, Seppanen and senior Blake Gentry (Ladera Ranch, Calif.). Wortmann sent in sophomore Clay Ostrander (Wheaton, Ill.) to serve. The move resulted in consecutive tough serves to the Cardinal and led to back-to-back Pacific points, knotting the game at 20-20.

Seven ties later, the two teams found themselves deadlocked at 30-30. A difficult serve from Seppanen forced Stanford into a bad set, opening the door for the Tigers. Pacific did not waste the opportunity as Gentry and Borchin stuffed Stanford's Evan Romero to lift the Tigers to a 32-30 victory.

Seppanen and strong team defense catapulted the Tigers into a fifth game as Seppanen notched seven kills to lead Pacific in game four, while the Tigers collected 5.5 team blocks and forced Stanford into seven errors and a .143 hitting percentage.

The fifth and deciding game was another back-and-forth affair, featuring seven ties and one lead change. Trailing 6-3 early, Pacific scored four of the next five points to tie things up at 8-8. Gentry provided the fuel for this burst, starting things off with a kill and block with Hendershot to make it 6-5. Momemnts later, Gentry and Hendershot delived another facial to the Cardinal, then Seppanen and fellow senior Simon Chen-Byerley (Northfield, Ill.) got in the act with a block of their own to make it 7-7. The two teams traded points until the score was 10-10, but Stanford delivered the knock out blow with four straight points to take a 14-10 lead and went on to win game five, 15-11.

Seppanen led the Tigers with 17 kills in the match and posted 11 digs to complete his second double-double of the season. Two other Tigers reached double figures in kills as Hendershot finished with 12 and Borchin delivered 11.

Romero led all attackers with 20 kills for the Cardinal, while Kawika Shoji finished with 19 kills.

The Tigers return to action on Friday, Feb. 22 as Pacific hosts Hawai'i at 8 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.