STANFORD, Calif. – Fifth-year senior Gabriel Vega refused to lose his final match in Maples Pavilion, propelling No. 9 Stanford to a 25-12, 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11 comeback over UC San Diego Saturday.
The win clinched an MPSF playoff berth for Stanford (12-11, 7-9 MPSF). The Cardinal has now appeared in the postseason nine of the past 10 years under head coach John Kosty.
Vega tied his career-high with 21 kills on .362 hitting to go with seven digs and two blocks. He had just six kills after the first three sets. He recorded 10 in the fourth and was a perfect five-for-five in the fifth set.
Vega was joined by redshirt juniors Clay Jones and Colin McCall in a postmatch Senior Night ceremony as the trio played its final match in Maples Pavilion.
McCall finished with 12 kills on .381 hitting and five digs, while Jones tallied seven kills, six digs and an ace. Middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw hit .450 with 11 kills, four blocks and four digs.
Freshman setter Paul Bischoff registered the second 50-assist match of his career, while collecting six digs, four blocks and two kills. Junior libero Evan Enriques finished with 12 digs and three assists.
Paul Bischoff and Kevin Rakestraw combine to deliver the @StanfordMVB @OpusBank #12Best Moment! #NCAAMVB https://t.co/pGHE0QSciG
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) April 2, 2017
Stanford opened the match with a dominating 25-12 win in the opening set, hitting .450 as a team. UC San Diego (7-17, 3-13 MPSF) rallied back to win the next two sets, holding the Cardinal to an .083 and an .057 attack percentages in the second and third sets, respectively.
The Cardinal made adjustments in the fourth set, posting 18 kills on .419 hitting to force a decisive fifth set. Stanford jumped out to an early lead in the final frame, never trailing as it improved to 4-0 in five-set matches this season.
UC San Diego was led by senior Ian Colbert who turned in a team-high 16 kills on .324 hitting. Sophomore Nathan Thalken added 11 kills and five blocks, while redshirt junior middle Bryan Zhu had 10 kills on a .538 attack percentage and five blocks for the Tritons.
Stanford closes out the regular season next week, traveling to UC Irvine and UC San Diego. The MPSF first round playoff matches will be played on April 15.