SoCal sweep keeps momentum rolling for men’s volleyball

No. 3 Stanford men’s volleyball (14-2, 12-2 MPSF) performed well on the road this weekend, sweeping UC San Diego (4-14, 0-13) on Thursday and No. 13 UC Irvine (4-11, 3-10) on Friday. The Cardinal have now recorded eight of their 14 victories on the season via three-set sweeps and have won seven in a row since a loss to then-No. 2 Long Beach State on Feb. 5.

Sophomore middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw (above) led Stanford in kills in both of the No. 3 Cardinal’s victories over the weekend, tallying 11 kills against UC San Diego and 8 against UC Irvine. (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)

Stanford spread out its attack against the Tritons, as 14 players saw action and nine registered kills. Four Cardinal made their season debuts in the match: freshman setter Russell Dervay, junior outside hitter Colin McCall, freshman outside hitter Ryan Smith and sophomore outside hitter Jake Stuebner. Sophomore middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw paced the squad with 11 kills and 5 block assists in the Cardinal’s 25-14, 25-17, 25-18 defeat of the Tritons.

On Friday, Stanford claimed its seventh straight victory when it took down the UC Irvine Anteaters 25-16, 25-16, 27-25. Senior setter James Shaw recorded his second double-double this season with 26 assists and a team-leading 10 digs. Rakestraw again led the Stanford attack, notching 8 kills.

After jumping out to an easy 2-0 match lead, the Cardinal struggled with consistency in the third set. Irvine maintained a sizable lead for much of the set, but Stanford found its stride and tied the score at 22. The teams traded blows, but the Cardinal were able to come out on top to take the set and the match in extra points.

Next up for the Cardinal is No. 10 Pepperdine on the road on Saturday.

Contact Olivia Hummer at ohummer ‘at’ stanford.edu.