STANFORD, Calif. - No. 16 Stanford (1-4) travels to No. 5 UC Irvine (7-0) on Friday and Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. from the Bren Events Center in Irvine.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford split its matches at home against then-No. 17 UC Santa Barbara, picking up its first win of the season in a five-set thriller. Opposite Moses Wagner registered a season-high 21 kills on .304 hitting and 10 digs in the win for his first double-double of the year. On the weekend, Wagner paced the team with 3.75 kills per set.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: John Kosty, The Birkhofer Family Head Men's Volleyball Coach, will see a familiar face on the other side of the net this weekend. His son, Cameron, is a redshirt freshman for the Anteaters. The younger Kosty recorded a career-high 49 assists in UCI's second match at BYU last week - the third most by a Big West player this season.
COACHES POLL: Stanford was picked to finish fourth in the MPSF by the league’s coaches. UCLA, which received four first-place votes, was selected to win the MPSF regular season title for a fifth straight year. Pepperdine and USC tied for second, garnering four and two first-place votes, respectively.
2026 MPSF STAT LEADERS: As a team, Stanford is seccond in the MPSF with 8.80 digs per set, and ranks fifth with 11.65 assists and 12.40 kills per set. The Cardinal is eighth in hitting percentage (.275), ninth in blocks (1.53) and 10th in aces (0.75).
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (MPSF)
Hitting Percentage: Carreira - 10th (.434)
Kills per set: Wagner - 4th (3.85)
Points per set: Wagner - 4th (4.28)
WELCOME BACK: After spending eight seasons as the volunteer assistant with the Cardinal (2017-24), Matt Houlihan is back on The Farm as the interim Al Roderigues Assistant Coach. He replaces Spencer Wickens, who recently left the program for an assistant women’s volleyball coaching position at the University of Minnesota.
INCOMING CLASS: In November, Stanford signed four high school standouts to join the Cardinal in the fall of 2026. The group consists of Peter Debiec (Cary, N.C.), Declan Flanagan (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Aleksey Mikhailenko (Mequon, Wis.) and Lincoln Myers (Madison, Wis.).
2025 IN REVIEW: In his 19th season at the helm of the program, The Birkhofer Family Head Men’s Volleyball Coach John Kosty guided the Cardinal to a 13-15 overall record and a 4-8 mark in the MPSF (7th). The Cardinal advanced to the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament for a fourth straight season - its first time doing so in program history. Opposite Moses Wagner was named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team. The junior averaged 3.77 kills on .305 hitting, 0.92 blocks and 4.50 point per set in three postseason matches. The Cardinal, which was ranked every week during the 2025 campaign, finished the season at No. 13 in the AVCA poll.
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty completed his 19th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 35th overall on staff in 2025. He is now 274-242 in his career. He guided Stanford to the 2010 NCAA national championship and the 2014 NCAA finals. The Cardinal has produced a first team AVCA All-America selection in nine of the 19 seasons under Kosty. Stanford has appeared in the MPSF Tournament in 16 of Kosty’s 19 seasons (missing out in 2007 and 2015. The tournament was canceled in 2020).