The Cardinal (9-3 in the Pac-12, 16-5 overall) travels to Colorado for a match next Friday. The Buffaloes handed Washington its only conference loss thus far.

Stanford topped visiting UCLA, 28-26, 25-19, 22-25, 25-11, on Friday night in a Pac-12 Conference match to remain within a game of USC for second place and two games back of first-place Washington.

It was easy for Stanford to get into a party mood, with the band blaring away following the sixth-ranked Cardinal's decisive victory.

Senior Rachel Williams borrowed the baton from the Stanford band's conductor and led her Cardinal women's volleyball teammates in an impromptu dance usually reserved for the Dollies.

The Cardinal never trailed in the fourth set, though the Bruins drew within 7-6.

Stanford fell behind in each of its first three sets, rallying to win the first two sets.

Ajanaku had a hitting percentage of .450 for the match and the Cardinal hit .309 as a team.

Then came the detour to the locker room, with the Cardinal players doing a pretty good impression of cheerleaders while dancing to the soothing tunes of the Stanford band.

Ajanaku and Burgess each had two kills to account for Stanford's final four points of the match.

Stanford responded with seven consecutive points, which included two kills from Bugg, one from Howard and a service ace from Burgess.

The Oaks (7-2-1, 10-6-1) and host Marymount California went 110 minutes without scoring and the teams remained tied for second place in the Cal Pac Conference, each with 22 points.

Jolise Limcaco added 11 points and seven assists for the Lady Oaks, who travel to Fullerton for a nonconference game against Hope International next Friday. Freshman Aaliyah Sowards made a successful debut with 12 points, five assists and four steals.

"We did a good job of attacking the basket and getting good looks, especially in the first half, " Menlo coach Shannon Osborne said. "In the second we got stops when we needed them and played hard all night. Overall it was a good win for us."

"I thought we executed in every area of our game," Menlo coach Atlee Hubbard said. "We were diving and having fun and that was nice to see."

Courtney Wong had nine kills and Bayley Blackney recorded 7 1/2 blocks in thegame. Lainey Brown got the start as the Lady Oaks' libero and tallied a match-best 14 digs. Menlo setter Kelly Sung had 24 assists, bringing her season total to 568.

The Lady Oaks (8-1 in Cal Pac action, 14-6 overall) will honor their seniors Yap, Emily Tonascia and Katelyn Milligan before Saturday's 7 p.m. home finale against Simpson.

The Cardinal continued push forward for the final 25 minutes, but Edwards and the Bruin defense were up to task and UCLA held on for the one-goal victory.

Three minutes later, Morris looked to have his second goal of the game when he sent a shot on net after Edwards got caught out of the goal. Aaron Simmons was quick to run back to the line though and made an outstanding stop and clearance to deny Morris.

Edwards made a terrific diving save though, punching the ball out of the box in the process to preserve the lead.

In the 61st minute, Stanford almost tied the game when JJ Koval flicked the ball on goal off of a free kick.

The Bruins tied the game in the 40th minute and then took the lead two minutes into the second half.

"You talk about outplaying, outshooting, whatever, it's a team sport. Whether it's the striker being the star or the goalkeeper being the star, they just did enough to edge it," said Stanford coach Jeremy Gunn. "It's tough for us because we're right there with it, but we've got four games left and we're playing against and going toe-to-toe against the best teams in the country."

Stanford had a chance to go up by two in the 38th minute when Bobby Edwards found himself one-on-one with Edwards on the right side of the box. UCLA's Edwards stopped the shot by rushing out to meet Stanford's Edwards and closing down the angle.

UCLA lost the ball at the top of its own box, which was recovered by Zach Batteer, who sent a pass to Morris on the left side to set up the score.

Freshman Jordan Morris got Stanford on the board in the 30th minute with a quick, left-footed kick to the far post.

Despite constant pressure in the Bruins' zone, the Cardinal could not hang on, falling, 2-1, in a Pac-12 Conference match.

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Decisive victory over UCLA has Stanford dancing in the aisles