April 12, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. - Junior Erick Helenihi (Orange, CA/Villa Park HS) had match-highs of 19 kills and six blocks to lead eighth-ranked UC Irvine (12-12 overall, 7-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) to a 30-26, 32-30, 30-26 upset of fifth-ranked Stanford University (13-8, 9-7) on Thursday night at Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal closes out the regular season against third-ranked UCLA (19-6, 11-4) on Friday night at Maples Pavilion at 7:00 p.m. If the Cardinal defeats the Bruins, it will receive the sixth seed in the MPSF Playoffs and visit either UCLA or Long Beach State (17-6, 12-5). A loss to UCLA would give Stanford the seventh seed and a first round match-up at either BYU (18-3, 12-3) or Hawaii (17-4, 12-3). The first round of the MPSF Playoffs is Saturday, April 21.
The victory moved the Anteaters a giant step closer towards qualifying for the post-season. UC Irvine now leads Pacific (10-11, 6-9) by a half game for the eighth and final spot, and the two teams will square off on Friday night in Stockton.
The Anteaters built leads of 16-12 and 24-18 in game one, before the Cardinal used a late run to get within 27-25. The visitors, who held the hosts to a .147 hitting percentage (15 k-10 e-34 ta) in that first game, then scored three of the next four points to close out the game.UC Irvine then out-blocked the Cardinal 9-2 over the final two games to post the three-game victory. Stanford, which won at UC Irvine in four games in March, led by as many as four points early in game two (9-5) and maintained the lead to 27-25. UC Irvine, however, scored seven of the final 10 points to put it away. The Anteaters hit .378 in the game (19-5-37), and out-blocked the Cardinal 5-1.
Helenihi hit .636 in game three (8-1-11), and the Anteaters hit .500 as a team (24-6-36), to wrap up the win. Stanford's Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS) countered by hitting .455 (6-1-11), but the Anteaters broke a 20-20 tie and scored five of the next seven points to take control.
Junior Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, CA/Santa Margarita HS) led Stanford with 16 kills, while senior setter Josh Lukens (San Diego, CA/Mt. Carmel HS) had 46 assists. Senior Brett Youngberg (Surrey, B.C., Canada/Elgin Park Secondary) hit .636 with eight kills (8-1-11), while freshman Billy Clayton (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS) hit .600 with seven kills (7-1-10).
Besides his 19 kills and six blocks, Helenihi hit .567 (19-2-30) for the winners. Sophomore Monte Tucker (Cerritos, CA/Gahr HS) had 12 kills, while sophomore Jarett Jensen (Encinitas, CA/LA Costa Canyon HS) and freshman Jimmy Pelzel (Lake Forest, CA/El Toro HS) had 11 kill apiece.