IRVINE, Calif. – The No. 4 Stanford men’s volleyball team came out on top of a five-set thriller at No. 6 UC Irvine, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13, Friday, at the Bren Center in Irvine, Calif. The Cardinal improves to 19-7 overall and 16-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Anteaters fall to 17-10 and 14-9 in conference.
Stanford, which has now won 10 matches in a row, has clinched home court advantage for the quarterfinals of the MPSF Tournament on April 19. The Cardinal’s 10-match winning streak is its longest since it won 16 in a row to close out the 1997 season with the program’s first national title.
Despite being outhit by UC Irvine .269 to .256, Stanford found a way to win when it mattered the most. The Cardinal has now won its last two five-set matches after going 0-5 to start the year.
Senior outside hitter Brian Cook paced the Cardinal with 18 kills on 40 swings with just four errors to hit .350. Senior Steven Irvin posted a double-double with 15 kills and a match-high 13 digs. He also put down three aces and had two blocks.
Sophomore setter James Shaw totaled 45 assists, 10 digs, four blocks and four kills. Sophomore middle Conrad Kaminski finished with nine kills and five blocks on a .375 attack percentage. Senior opposite Eric Mochalski also notched nine kills and registered 10 digs.
UC Irvine was led by Jeremy Dejno who tallied 17 kills and eight digs. Connor Hughes added 14 kills and 10 digs.
Stanford closes out the regular season at UC San Diego on Saturday, April 12. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT.