Stanford lost a close battle to undefeated and #1-ranked NAIA MVB power The Master's. This was a classic "trap" match, coming on the heels of a significant win over #4 Hawaii. Tiebreaker loss (26-24, 21-25, 22-25, 28-26, 11-15).
Stanford had more points (81-75), Kills (65-63), Aces (8-6), Blocks (8-6) and Assists (62-60). Master's had more digs (54-48). We didn't play badly, hitting .316 as a team (2nd best of season) but the Master's hit .329. Master's HC Jared Goldber pointed up their defense as the key to the win. Stanford's 29 serving errors (against Master's 17) didn't help matters.
The match didn't "count" in the standings, coming against an NAIA team as it did, and Coach Kosty made liberal use of his bench players during the match. Their best MB (IMHO) Kau Carreira didn't play and they set backup Luke McFall 20x in the match (and he was great, 12 kills, 2 errors, 20 sets). Backup OH Carson Kneisl had a rough match, 5 kills, 17 sets, two errors, 0.176 hitting percentage.
The NAIA is a different beast. They aren't restricted by NCAA hour limits, scholarship limits, or competition limits. For example, Masters participated in eight pre-season tournaments and scrimmages, all against high-level opponents (UCI, USC, UCSD, LBSU, UCLA, Princeton, Fresno, Indiana Purdue). Stanford had two matches against Saskatchewan.
Cal Baptist was a MVB power in the NAIA with about half their roster and all of their starters coming from overseas teams. They won 20+ matches every year, then went 12-16 in 2012 (after 26-5 the prior year) and dropped men's volleyball four years later. Not sure where Master's will go, or how their roster is constructed, but they were a very effective, capable team against Stanford.
Stanford had more points (81-75), Kills (65-63), Aces (8-6), Blocks (8-6) and Assists (62-60). Master's had more digs (54-48). We didn't play badly, hitting .316 as a team (2nd best of season) but the Master's hit .329. Master's HC Jared Goldber pointed up their defense as the key to the win. Stanford's 29 serving errors (against Master's 17) didn't help matters.
The match didn't "count" in the standings, coming against an NAIA team as it did, and Coach Kosty made liberal use of his bench players during the match. Their best MB (IMHO) Kau Carreira didn't play and they set backup Luke McFall 20x in the match (and he was great, 12 kills, 2 errors, 20 sets). Backup OH Carson Kneisl had a rough match, 5 kills, 17 sets, two errors, 0.176 hitting percentage.
The NAIA is a different beast. They aren't restricted by NCAA hour limits, scholarship limits, or competition limits. For example, Masters participated in eight pre-season tournaments and scrimmages, all against high-level opponents (UCI, USC, UCSD, LBSU, UCLA, Princeton, Fresno, Indiana Purdue). Stanford had two matches against Saskatchewan.
Cal Baptist was a MVB power in the NAIA with about half their roster and all of their starters coming from overseas teams. They won 20+ matches every year, then went 12-16 in 2012 (after 26-5 the prior year) and dropped men's volleyball four years later. Not sure where Master's will go, or how their roster is constructed, but they were a very effective, capable team against Stanford.
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