Happy homecoming for seven Stanford volleyball players
Seven wining tycoons of the no. 2 Stanford men’s volleyball team returned to their people with sparkling victory as a crown on their heads past weekend. Stanford’s men volleyball team battled back against no.13 Hawaii for an arduous 3-2 win to make a series
split in Honolulu.
Stanford was in danger of losing two consecutive snap shoots for the first time in last 12 months after losing viciously in front of a strident audience of 3,551 on Friday here in Honolulu. However senior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin one of the seven
Hawaii natives on Stanford roster played impertinently in the second match while getting a chance to play in front of their family and friends at the Stan Sheriff Center this past weekend as all seven on Stanford roster were Hawaii native.
“Senior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin (14) contributed a career-high 29 kills Sunday, helping the Cardinal win a five-set thriller over Hawaii.” (JONATHAN POTO/The Stanford Daily).
Moreover Eric Mochalski in infancy of his carrier pinched two devastating nails in already drowning coffin of Hawaii and thus avoided a flounce and kept Stanford near the top of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
Stanford started Sunday morning with a pretty much confidence as compare to Friday’s matchup, while starting the day by wining the set, 25-21, but Hawaii trenched up the moment, rallied behind by another home crowd and ended with the figure of 25-17 at the
end of second set thus narrowing the midway through set by Stanford due to another superlative performance from outside hitter Jonas Umlauft, who had 29 kills on that very night. Last years MPSF newcomer Umlauft once dragged the Tarzan swing back to Hawaiian’s
arena by outraging the Stanford with the huge difference of 8 points in second set.
Third set belonged to Stanford with a clear margin which swung the pendulum to a slim 2-1 lead midway through the set. In the forth set Hawaii again took the lead with score of 21-19 when Hawaiian coach John Kosty called a timeout and Stanford warriors
alleged to tie the set at 25-23 but set went back and forth for several points while ultimate service of Nejc Zemljak’s of Hawaii forced the Stanford to hook up in a fifth and final set with a win of 36-34.
Fifth set was completely overwhelmed by the warriors of Stanford right from the start. It was then that Mochalski took over in the spotlight, earning a point off a Hawaii overpass to make it 16-15, and then spiking a pass by Ellis for his seventh kill of
the night – a match winner. It was the team’s longest match of the year by over half an hour and lasted for two hours and 54 minutes.
“Stanford will hit the road again to continue league play this Friday against Cal State Northridge” said Miles Bennett Smith.