Stanford Advances to NCAA Championship Match
May 6, 2010
2010 NCAA Tournament Central
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford got a combined 29 kills from Evan Romero and Brad Lawson on the way to routing Ohio State, 30-25, 30-26, 30-17, in an NCAA men's volleyball semifinal Thursday before 3,825 at Maples Pavilion.
Top-seeded Stanford (23-6) advanced to its fourth NCAA final, and first since winning it all in 1997, where it will play No. 3 seed Penn State (24-7), a surprise 30-21, 30-23, 30-28 winner over No. 2 seed Cal State Northridge. The final will be played Saturday at 4 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford hit .375, with Romero (15 kills) leading the way with a robust .500, with only two hitting errors on 26 swings. Kawika Shoji, the AVCA National Player of the Year, had 44 assists, and his brother and fellow first-team All-American Erik Shoji had 12 digs. Lawson had 14 kills, and Gus Ellis was in on eight blocks.
Ohio State (22-8) has never beaten Stanford in nine all-time matchups.