STANFORD, Calif. – Playing in the MPSF final for the second straight season, No. 8 Stanford fell in the title match to No. 2 UCLA, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23, Saturday at Maples Pavilion.
It marked the first time in school history that Stanford (15-13) played in the MPSF final in consecutive seasons. The Cardinal was held to .173 hitting and finished with seven aces, 20 digs and 4.5 blocks.
No. 1 seed UCLA (29-2), which is undefeated against MPSF opponents, hit .373 as a team and recorded 10.0 blocks, 25 digs and five aces.
Outside hitter Will Rottman had a match-high 13 kills on .300 hitting to go with five digs and a pair of aces. In the three MPSF Tournament matches, the senior averaged 4.33 kills on a .319 attack percentage, 1.58 digs, 0.67 aces and 5.29 points per set to lead the Cardinal.
Rottman out of the back row ??
?? » @FloVolleyball
?? » https://t.co/L3JlzA7eYf#GoStanford #NCAAMVB pic.twitter.com/9YB39Mnwz8
— Stanford Men’s Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) April 23, 2023
Libero Justin Lui tallied three digs and an assist in his final match in a Cardinal uniform. The redshirt senior finishes his career with 698 digs – the fourth-most in school history in the rally scoring era. His 2.12 career digs per set is third-best in program history.
Setter Nathan Lietzke totaled 26 assists and had two digs and two blocks. Middle blocker Nathaniel Gates hit .571 with four kills on seven errorless swings to go with three blocks.
Return to sender ??!
?? » @FloVolleyball
?? » https://t.co/L3JlzA7eYf#GoStanford #NCAAMVB pic.twitter.com/XEkoUa6iJi
— Stanford Men’s Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) April 23, 2023
Outside hitter Luke Turner tallied four kills on .375 hitting, two digs and an ace in two sets played, replacing Kevin Lamp in the second. Lamp had two aces and two blocks, but was held to four kills on -.167 hitting.
Freshman opposite Theo Snoey recorded four kills, four digs, a block and an ace. Coming off the bench as serving specialists, Aidan Peters notched an ace, while Theoren Brouillette had two digs in his second postseason appearance.
UCLA was led by Merrick McHenry’s 10 kills and four blocks. His 10 kills came on just 12 swings with no errors for an .833 attack percentage. The middle was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
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