Cardinal Falls to Lewis

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 10 Stanford men’s volleyball team dropped a 25-21, 25-19, 25-19 decision to ninth-ranked Lewis, Friday, in the inaugural AVCA Men’s Volleyball Showcase at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.

“I think it is great to get a couple of the top teams in the Midwest coming out here to play at Stanford,” said head coach John Kosty. “BYU is another solid team. I think we will have two more exciting matches tomorrow night with big-time plays and big-time players.”

Stanford (1-1) hit .258 and collected 7.5 team blocks, but never led in the match. Lewis (2-0) registered a .393 team hitting percentage and racked up 15.0 blocks in the win.

Stanford was led by juniors Conrad Kaminski and Alex Stephanus who each tallied eight kills. Kaminski hit .438 and added four blocks and two digs. Redshirt senior Daniel Tublin finished with seven kills on a .312 attack percentage, while senior middle blocker Spencer Haly hit .500.

“I thought Spencer Haly and Conrad Kaminski played well tonight,” added Kosty. “I also thought Daniel Tublin came on and had a nice match for us. I think that is what we are looking for out of him each night.”

Junior setter James Shaw, who sat out the season opener while rehabbing an injury, started the match and totaled 14 assists, five digs and two blocks in his debut. Freshman Kyle Dagostino shared time running the offense, recording 20 assists. Redshirt senior libero Grant Delgado collected a team-high seven digs.

“I thought James did a nice job tonight,” said Kosty. “It was his first night back and his first time playing in a long time. I like what he did offensively. He had some good blocks. It is a process with this team and with James and I think we are on the right track and moving forward.”

Redshirt sophomore Gabriel Vega entered the match in the third set and finished 3-1-4 to hit .500. Redshirt freshman Clay Jones made his collegiate debut, picking up a kill, a dig and a block.

“I thought Gabriel Vega came off the bench and ignited our team tonight,” said Kosty. “I thought what our bench players did was really nice. Evan Enriques got us some points from the service line. Every time Kyle Dagostino came in it sparked our team and gave us a little bit of momentum.”

Lewis was led by seniors Greg Petty and Eric Fitterer. The pair combined for 30 of the Flyers’ 45 kills. Petter hit .591, while Fitterer had nine blocks, eight digs and posted a .636 attack percentage. Senior outside hitter Geoff Powell added 10 kills for the Flyers.

“Lewis has a couple of outside hitters that we had trouble with tonight,” explained Kosty. “Overall, early in the season it is going to be a process for us to continually strive to get better and more consistent. I thought we did that as the match went on tonight.”

Defending national champion Loyola Chicago, ranked second nationally, defeated No. 6 BYU in four sets in the first match of the showcase.

Stanford wraps-up the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 10 in a rematch of the 2014 NCAA title match versus Loyola Chicago. The Cardinal and Ramblers will meet at 7 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.

“I am excited to have high-level men’s volleyball and high-level teams out in the Bay Area,” said Kosty. “I think it is a great preview of what is to come when we host the national championship at Maples in May. It is great for fans to watch these teams play now and then come back in May and see how much growth happens throughout the course of the season.”