No. 8 Stanford men’s volleyball (3-1, 1-1 MPSF) looks ahead to another packed weekend with games against UC San Diego (3-1, 0-2) on Friday and No. 4 UC Irvine (2-2, 1-1) on Saturday.
The Cardinal are not getting a break after facing then-No. 1 BYU last weekend, as they face another round of difficult matches. UC San Diego is a tough team that has challenged Stanford in the past.
“San Diego’s coaching staff does a really good job getting [its] guys well prepared for scouting and things like that,” said senior Conrad Kaminski. “We know that if we just go with what we’re used to doing, they’re going to do really well against us.”
The other main strength that the Tritons have is their experience; they return 15 players from last season, 14 of whom saw playing time. This will allow for good communication and game strategy within the team.
Stanford’s other opponent over the weekend will be UC Irvine, which remains a top-five team despite losses to championship hopefuls Loyola and UCLA.
“I’m excited for Irvine,” said Kaminski. “They’ve always been the rivals in our conference; they’ve always been a top team.”
In the past, the two teams have butted heads as far along as the qualifiers for the NCAA tournament. Last year, the Cardinal lost both matches against the Anteaters. This year, Stanford must redeem itself in what will be its fourth conference match of the season.
The Cardinal must look to strike hard, something that they should be able to do given their offensive prowess this season. The Cardinal have posted 450 attacks for 223 kills this season, outpacing the Anteaters, who have 323 and 145, respectively.
Stanford’s defense has similarly outperformed Irvine’s. The Cardinal defense has generated 150 digs on the year, compared to 95 for Irvine. Both teams rank among the top in the country in digs per set; the Cardinal are eighth with 8.82 while the Anteaters are 11th with 8.50.
The Cardinal must work on certain aspects of the game, namely their serves, if they hope to beat the No. 4 team in the nation. If the team can overcome these technical errors, it is sure to shine.
These two matches will also be Stanford’s first home matches of the season.
“We’ve already had four matches on the road, and they’ve been big road trips too,” stated Kaminski. “Playing at home is going to be nice, because you get to go through your routine and you’re in your own bed sleeping every night.”
The matches will be held at Burnham Pavilion at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 22 and Saturday, Jan. 23.
Contact Laura Sussman at laura111 ‘at’ stanford.edu.