After last Saturday’s 3-1 win over defending national champion UC-Irvine (30-28, 23-30, 30-28, 30-28) and Thursday’s clean sweep of UC-Santa Cruz (30-18, 30-23, 34-32), the No. 6 Stanford men’s volleyball team hoped to continue its roll into the weekend against No. 11 USC and No. 2 Pepperdine.

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Junior Jesse Meredith goes up for a spike in the No. 6 Cardinal’s four-game win over No. 11 USC on Friday. After beating the Trojans, Stanford fell to No. 2 Pepperdine in four games on Saturday. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8380
Jaclyn Tandler

Junior Jesse Meredith goes up for a spike in the No. 6 Cardinal’s four-game win over No. 11 USC on Friday. After beating the Trojans, Stanford fell to No. 2 Pepperdine in four games on Saturday.

On Friday, the team extended its two-match win streak to three against USC, taking out the Trojans in four games (30-28, 30-26, 26-30, 30-17). On Saturday, however, the Cardinal’s streak ended against undefeated Pepperdine in four games (20-30, 23-30, 30-20, 20-30).

Friday’s match saw sophomore Evan Romero lead the way with an impressive 19 kills. Senior Matt Ceran was not far behind, posting yet another double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Kawika Shoji tallied 46 assists on the night.

The Cardinal started off the first game strong offensively, with Romero recording seven kills and four digs at a .385 hitting percentage. Senior Jesse Meredith also posted three kills at a .286 hitting percentage.

Game two also saw a strong show from the Cardinal offense, this time led by Ceran. The senior captain had five kills on nine attacks while freshman Charley Hendrickson had three kills on five attacks. The Cardinal hitters maintained a combined .406 hitting percentage on the game.

USC cameback in game three as their defense stepped up to tame the Cardinal offense. The Trojan blockers were extremely successful, forcing the Cardinal to hit just .118. Freshman Murphy Troy led the Trojans with four kills in the game; he had 17 on the night. Despite a late run by the Cardinal, the Trojans were able to hold on and force a fourth game.

In game four, head coach John Kosty sent junior Brandon Williams into play. Williams made an immediate difference in the team’s vitality, making crucial plays on defense. The Cardinal continued to play well offensively, rounding out the last game 30-17 and clinching the match 3-1.

Having improved to 5-1 on the year, Stanford came into Saturday confident as ever. Despite playing well, however, the Cardinal succumbed to the Waves’ attack.

Senior Jonathon Winder coordinated the Pepperdine offense with 46 assists on the match, bringing his career total to 3,952 and moving into first place on the school’s all-time list. Junior J.D. Schleppenbach led the Waves with a career-high 21 kills, while junior Matt McKee had 15 kills. They maintained an impressive .310 hitting percentage throughout the match, holding Stanford to just .184 hitting.

Once again, the Cardinal were led by Romero and Ceran, who each recorded 14 kills on the match.

The Waves opened game one with an early 12-7 lead over the Cardinal, which quickly expanded to 19-10. The Waves hit a combined .394 in the game, contributing numerous blocks to finish 30-20, 1-0.

Though game two saw the Cardinal come out with more energy than they did in game one, Stanford committed a number of unforced errors and could not pull out the win.

In game three, however, the Cardinal made a few player changes which gave the team a boost on offense. Coach Kosty put in junior setter Miki Groppi, who posted a team-high 27 assists. He also started Williams, who contributed six kills on 10 attacks. The Cardinal came away with a 30-20 win, bringing the match score to 2-1 and forcing a game four.

Though the Cardinal kept up with the Waves throughout game four, Pepperdine rallied late to steal the game, 30-20, and the match, 3-1.

Stanford returns to action Thursday on the road against Cal State Northridge. The Cardinal will then face UC-Santa Barbara on the road on Saturday.