Stanford set to face two top-10 MPSF foes on the Farm
The No. 5 Stanford men’s volleyball team has a big weekend ahead.
The Card, which will face two conference foes this weekend in No. 3 UCLA and No. 11 UC-Irvine, is looking to capitalize on its momentum from two big wins last weekend over Pacific and UC-Santa Cruz. The win over Pacific was vital, as it snapped a two-match conference-losing streak and got Stanford back on track in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
However, this weekend will bring bigger challenges in the form of the Bruins and the Anteaters. The Bruins have won five of their last six MPSF matches, including two wins over No. 8 Hawaii and a sweep of No. 1 Cal State Northridge.
This weekend the Cardinal will look to capitalize on home-court advantage to earn MPSF wins over two ranked opponents. In a conference as strong as the MPSF, which boasts the country’s top eight teams, every win counts for the Card, which will play nine of its last 13 conference matches on the road.
The UCLA match also brings intrigue in the form of a sibling rivalry. Cardinal freshman outside hitter Myles Muagututia is the younger brother of one of UCLA’s stars, senior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia. The elder Muagututia earned MPSF Player of the Week honors last week after he pounded 46 kills in a two-match road trip to Hawaii, while the younger achieved a new career-high with 12 kills for the Card in the win over the Banana Slugs last Friday.
The Bruins are also led by redshirt sophomore opposite Jack Poales, who is second on the team to Muagututia with 3.7 kills per set, and senior setter Kevin Kerr, who leads the team with 9.12 assists per set.
While the focus may be on the UCLA match, with the sibling storyline and the clash of two top-five teams, the Irvine match promises to be a thriller as well. The Anteaters have struggled through some hard times recently. They just broke a six-match conference-losing streak with a win against BYU last Saturday, but still remember better times.
Just last year, UC-Irvine was crowned national champion after beating USC, and although this is a rebuilding year after losing five seniors to graduation, the Anteaters remain a formidable force with lots of young talent.
The team is led by its three returning All-Americans, sophomore opposite Carson Clark, sophomore middle blocker Kevin Wynne and sophomore outside hitter Jordan DuFault. Clark was the MPSF Freshman of the Year last year and is averaging 5.2 kills per set for the Anteaters this season.
While the challenges these teams present may seem intimidating, Stanford has a few tricks up its sleeve.
The Cardinal boasts the conference leaders in many statistical categories, including senior setter Kawika Shoji in assists per game and sophomore middle blocker Gus Ellis in blocks per game.
Against Pacific and Santa Cruz, the Cardinal utilized its strong offense by serving and passing well, and will likely look to do the same against the Bruins and Anteaters this weekend. Additionally, the Cardinal will look to end its six-game homestand strongly, with wins this weekend making close losses to UCSB and Cal State Northridge two weekends ago a distant memory.
The Cardinal will take on the Bruins tonight at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion and will switch to the smaller, more rowdy atmosphere of Burnham Pavilion for Saturday’s contest against Irvine, also at 7 p.m.