Stanford University’s men’s volleyball team secured its first win of the 2026 season with a five-set victory over UC Santa Barbara at Maples Pavilion on Thursday. The match ended with Reed Wainwright delivering an ace on match point, resulting in set scores of 22-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-21, and 17-15.
Stanford, ranked No. 14 nationally, improved to a record of 1-3. The team posted a .264 hitting percentage while holding No. 17 UC Santa Barbara to .217. Stanford recorded 12.5 blocks, collected 54 digs, and served two aces during the contest.
Opposite Moses Wagner led Stanford’s offense with a season-high of 21 kills on .304 hitting, adding ten digs and four blocks for his first double-double this year. Outside hitter Theo Snoey contributed with 14 kills, eight digs, two assists, and two blocks.
The match was closely contested throughout the night with a total of 41 tie scores and twelve lead changes. In the decisive fifth set, Stanford hit .500 as a team and sided out at an efficiency rate of eighty percent.
Freshman Jacob Little-Phillips started at setter for the second consecutive match and managed the offense with 48 assists along with six digs, four blocks, two kills, and one ace.
Sophomores Kai Schmitt and Evan Porter shared libero duties for Stanford in the final three sets. Schmitt started the match and finished with a career-high twelve digs; Porter added three digs and two assists.
Alex Rottman began as outside hitter for Stanford and totaled two kills, seven digs, two assists, and three blocks over three sets before freshman Erik Ask entered to finish out the match with four kills and two digs.
Middle blocker Kaumana Carreira achieved eight kills on sixteen errorless swings for a .500 hitting percentage along with five blocks and four digs. Senior Luke McFall also started at middle blocker recording five kills and three blocks in three sets played before being replaced by Wainwright in the fourth set; Wainwright closed out his performance with two kills and four blocks.
For UC Santa Barbara (now 4-1), Riggs Guy led his team offensively by tallying fifteen kills alongside nine digs and five assists. Setter Cole Schobel narrowly missed a triple-double after finishing with nine kills, forty-three assists, and fifteen digs—the highest individual dig total in the match.
Stanford is scheduled to face UC Santa Barbara again Friday evening at Maples Pavilion.
