Stanford University’s men’s volleyball team lost to Ball State in four sets at the First Point Collegiate Challenge held at the Phoenix Convention Center on Sunday. The match scores were 17-25, 18-25, 25-23, and 23-25.
Stanford, currently with a season record of 0-3, recorded a .315 hitting percentage as a team. Ball State improved its record to 4-1 and posted a .382 hitting percentage. Ball State also led in service aces (8-2) and blocks (8.5 to 7.5).
Moses Wagner led Stanford with 16 kills, four digs, and three blocks. Theo Snoey contributed 14 kills on .367 hitting and six digs. Alex Rottman added 10 kills with a .381 attack percentage, five digs, and five blocks.
Thirteen different players participated for Stanford during the match. Ryan Gant started as setter for the first two sets and finished with 18 assists. Jacob Little-Phillips made his debut for Stanford by setting the final two frames; he tallied 24 assists, two digs, and two kills.
Middle blockers Kaumana Carreira and Luke McFall played in the opening two sets, each registering two kills; Carreira also had one block. In the third and fourth sets, Gray Mandelbaum and Reed Wainwright took over in the middle positions. Mandelbaum had one ace along with three kills, two digs, and one block while Wainwright contributed two kills and five blocks.
Sophomore libero Kai Schmitt collected three digs and three assists for Stanford. Freshman Luke Morrison came off the bench as a serving substitute to record his first collegiate ace.
For Ball State, Patrick Rogers led with 17 kills on .577 hitting along with seven digs, three blocks, and three aces. Ryan Louis added 12 kills, three aces, three digs, and four blocks.
Stanford will return home to host No. 17 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday and Friday at Maples Pavilion.
