Irvine, Calif. – Tamir Hershko had a match-high 16 kills as No. 5 UC Irvine swept Stanford (25-15, 25-23, 25-11) at the Bren Events Center Friday.
The fifth-ranked Anteaters improve to 12-3 overall and 7-2 in the MPSF and will host No. 4 Pepperdine tomorrow (Feb. 14) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center. Stanford falls to 3-9 on the year and 2-6 in the MPSF.
Hershko hit .429 on 16 kills, four errors on 28 attempts and added an ace to lead UCI. Kyle Russell recorded 11 kills, an ace and seven digs. Andrew Benz and Zack La Cavera each added five kills, with Benz hitting at a .833 clip (5-0-6) and La Cavera totaling two aces and six digs. Michael Saeta tallied 30 set assists, while Michael Brinkley had six digs and Jason Agopian pitched in three kills and four total blocks.
The Anteaters, the nation's most efficient offense, hit .432 (42-10-74) for the match and out-blocked Stanford 9.5 to 2.0. UCI recorded 25 digs and five aces. The Cardinal totaled two aces, 18 digs and hit .136 (29-18-81).
Daniel Tublin paced Stanford with nine kills followed by Madison Hayden with 8 kills and Clay Jones with six. Kyle Dagostino recorded 25 set assists and a team-high five digs.
UCI committed just one error in the first set and won 25-15. The Anteaters put away 16 kills on 22 swings and hit 682, while Stanford hit .154 (10-6-26). A kill by Kyle Russell and a block by Jason Agopian and Zack La Cavera gave the Anteaters the lead they would never relinquish, 6-4. Russell would serve the final five points, which included two Tamir Hershko kills and two blocks by Andrew Benz and Michael Saeta.
Stanford held a 12-8 lead in the second set before UCI used kills by Russell, Hershko and La Cavera, a Russell ace and five Cardinal errors to push ahead 17-14. An Anteater attack in the net knotted the score at 18 all and the teams would trade points until a kill by Russell and an ace by La Cavera would give UCI the 22-20 advantage. For the second consecutive set, Hershko would record the final point with a kill 25-23.
The third set was all UCI as the Anteaters opened a 9-3 lead on six consecutive points with Benz at the service line, which included an ace. Hershko and La Cavera would also fire aces in the set on the way to a 25-11 victory.
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