After a weekend sweep through the Chicago area, the Stanford men’s volleyball team is back on the Farm in a return to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play tonight against No. 12 UC San Diego. The No. 4 Cardinal will face off against No. 8 UC Irvine Saturday.

Playing ranked opponents is nothing new in the ultra-competitive MPSF, in which 11 of the top 15 teams in the most recent AVCA Div. I poll play. The weekend sojourn in the Midwest saw Stanford (8-2, 5-2 MPSF) square off against Div. II Lewis and Div. III Loyola, but head coach John Kosty said the experience and lessons learned were as important as any game.

“I think we just had a great weekend all around,” Kosty said. “Chicago’s a great town to play in, and it was good for us to be in an environment that most of the team is not used to, coming from the warmer climates of Southern California and Hawaii. But on the whole, I think we handled ourselves with great character.

“Most importantly, perhaps, we played in two gyms that are known for being hard on visiting opponents with really loud, boisterous student sections,” Kosty said. “They were both hostile environments, and I am really proud of the fact that our guys handled it all really well.”

Even with the support of a home crowd at Maples Pavilion, UC San Diego (5-7, 2-4) will certainly be a tough opponent, boasting a number of experienced players with gaudy numbers. Senior setter Phil Bannan set the Tritons’ career record for career assists with his 3,893rd in a loss to Pepperdine last week. He has plenty of help from outside hitter Carl Eberts and middle blocker Calvin Ross.

Eberts is a redshirt sophomore from Huntington Beach, Calif., and leads San Diego with 119 kills on the year. Ross, a 6-foot-9 senior, is having a breakout season with 88 kills, a team-high 43 blocks and an impressive .462 hitting percentage.

“San Diego is another good, solid team that digs a lot of balls and is going to keep coming at you,” Kosty said. “In a rally-score game to 25, that’s a pretty good combination to win.”

Stanford will look again to several newcomers that have been playing well lately. Freshmen outside hitters Eric Mochalski and Brian Cook have both been in the starting lineup for the Cardinal with fellow freshman outside hitter Steven Irvin getting plenty of playing time as well.

“The freshmen have just been great,” Kosty said. “They have an intensity and knowledge and desire to continually get better every day. It’s a reflection on their character and also shows how well the upperclassmen are leading the way.”

In the two wins over Lewis and Loyola, Mochalski had 14 kills on just 17 swings, while Cook added 15 kills and Irvin chipped in eight.

Playing every weekend under stressful conditions has not been an easy adjustment for the any of the rookies, particularly because of the physical demand on the players’ bodies.

“It’s definitely been exciting for us, but it’s also been pretty hard for a lot of reasons,” Mochalski said. “Cook, Irvin and I aren’t really used to this type of demand, but the coaches, training staff are all looking out for us.”

Another weekend with Friday-Saturday matches will test the team’s mettle as the season nears the heart of conference play.

“The team that wins the MPSF is going to be a team that is consistent, night in and night out, and we are continuing to work on that,” Kosty said.

“In men’s volleyball, you don’t win national championships in January or February,” he said. “It’s the team that improves the most on the season that will be able to go into the NCAA tournament and win five in a row.”

UC Irvine (5-7, 2-4) brings two of the top outside hitters in the country in Cory Yoder and Carson Clark. The pair have combined for 356 kills on the season, and Yoder’s .460 hitting percentage is one of the best marks in the country, particularly for an outside hitter.

That leaves out two-time All-American senior Jordan DeFault, who has struggled a bit this year with injuries, but certainly has the potential to have a big match.

Currently fourth in the MPSF conference standings, Stanford can’t afford to get caught looking ahead to next weekend’s showdown at No. 1 USC.

The match against UC San Diego is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at Maples Pavilion, with the Saturday match against UC Irvine slated for the same time.