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Kevin Lamp with No. 9 Stanford closing in an massive upset delivered a kill from behind the three-meter line that landed right in front of No. 6/5 Grand Canyon’s back row.
While the other Stanord players provided jubilant celebrations to the kill that set up a match-point, Lamp had a much more subtle reaction.
It would be tough to tell from the response that the outside attacker had capped off one of their best performances of the season.
Lamp finished with both a match-high three aces and 11 kills on a .381 attack percentage as Stanford upset Grand Canyon 25-17, 25-17, 25-20 on Friday in Stanford, California to open a two-match conference series.
Lamp on the first two plays of the match had a kill and then an ace. In addition, the outside attacker had a combined 10 kills in the final two games to help Stanford (12-10, 5-4 MPSF) earn its third straight conference win and first win this season against a top-five team in the national media poll.
Setter Nathan Lietzke guided the offense to out-hit the Antelopes .397 to .122, including the Cardinal in the first game committing one error and having a match-best .619 attack percentage.
Along with Lamp, outside attacker Will Rottman had nine kills and hit .300 against Grand Canyon (21-5, 6-5 MPSF).
This was the first time this season the Antelopes were held to less than a .200 attack percentage. Grand Canyon also has now lost four of its last five matches after starting its season 20-1 and dropped into fourth place in the MPSF.
Stanford finished with 10 blocks – seven more blocks than Grand Canyon. Nathan Lietzke led all players with six blocks, while Rottman and Theo Snoey each contributed five blocks.
No Grand Canyon player in the loss had more than eight kills.
All-conference opposite Camden Gianni was limited to six kills and a negative-.083 attack percentage – their second worst hitting performance of the season. Gianni entered this match having double-digit kills in 10 consecutive matches against NCAA opponents.
The Cardinal with this victory surpassed the Antelopes in the MPSF standings and moved into third place. Stanford also can climb into a tie for second place with No. 7/7 BYU if it beats Grand Canyon in their series finale on Saturday.