Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. - Despite a career night by James Clar, the University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team (6-8, 5-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) fell short in a loss to the Stanford Cardinal,(11-6, 7-6) in five-sets, 26-30, 30-26, 30-25, 28-30, 16-14, Wednesday night at the Burnham Pavilion.

Clar tallied a match high 29 kills. His previous high in kills was 23 that he recorded earlier this season against Ball State. Clar hit 43 percent for the night and also had 13 digs.

Joshua Walker was second on the team in kills with 15. Steven Grgas chipped in with nine and Jacob Schkud had eight. Sean Carney recorded 52 assists and Ric Cervantes had a productive night as he set a new career high with 23 digs.

The Warriors started off strong when they took game one, 30-26. It was the ninth time this season that UH has won the opening game of the match. Both teams were tied at 22, but the Warriors battled down the stretch and went on a 8-4 run to shut down the Cardinal.

The Cardinal came out tough in game two and took advantage of UH errors late in the contest to take game two, 30-26. The Warriors had the lead at 23-22, but back-to-back service errors stopped any momentum and the Cardinal used those errors to their advantage. After hitting 41 percent in the first game, UH could only muster a 26.5 attack percentage in game two.

UH could not get a rhythm going in the third game. The Warriors committed seven service errors and lost 30-25. UH tied the score at 13 off a double block by Grgas and Carney, but the Cardinal used two straight service aces to gain some traction and never looked back.

UH did not back down in game four and won 30-28. The Warriors were trailed 26-24 and 27-25 but finally went ahead 29-28 off a Matthew Rawson service ace. A Cardinal error sent the match into a fifth set.

UH looked like they were going to put Stanford away early and win the match. UH led 8-5, but Stanford rallied and scored four straight to take their first lead of the game at 9-8. The Cardinal looked to put it away with a 14-12 advantage, but two straight kills by Walker evened it up at 14. However, the Cardinal put together two consecutive kills to take the match.

The Warriors and Cardinal face off again tomorrow night, at 7:00 p.m. PST/5:00 p.m. HST, at the Burnham Pavilion to conclude the series.

-UH-