THIS WEEK
No. 5 UC Irvine at No. 9 Stanford · Friday, Mar. 31 · 8:00 p.m. · Maples Pavilion
Live Stats PAC-12 NETWORKS
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOUND
No. 5 UC Irvine heads to No. 9 Stanford Friday (Mar. 31) for an 8:00 p.m. match at Maples Pavilion.
The match will be shown on the Pac-12 Network.
ABOUT STANFORD
Stanford leads the series record with UCI 35-18, beating the Anteaters twice last year.
Stanford is 11-10 overall and 6-8 in the MPSF.
The Cardinal will be playing for the first time in 13 days and are looking to snap a three match losing streak.
ON THE RECORD
UCI is 16-6 overall and 10-5 in the MPSF, already clinching a spot in the MPSF play-offs. The Anteaters, who have been on the road the entire month of March, are 10-3 away from Irvine this season.
STREAKING
The Anteaters have won eight of the last nine outings, including the last five matches. Five in a row is the longest winning streak of the year for UCI.
AT THE PINS
UC Irvine has had a balanced offensive attack at the pins with Tamir Hershko, Thomas Hodges and Aaron Koubi.
Hershko leads the team with a 3.19 kill average, which ranks 12th in the MPSF. He is also averaging 1.05 digs.
Hodges is second on the team averaging 2.85 kills per set and recording 22 aces. He has recorded kills in double figures nine of the last 10 matches, including the last five contests.
Koubi has played in 35 sets and is averaging 2.66 kills. He has five double-digit kill performances, including a career-high 20 in the win at CSUN.
THE KOUBI FACTOR
Since Aaron Koubi has joined the Anteater starting lineup, UCI has gone 7-1. The junior has led the team in kills twice.
LAST TIME OUT
UCI beat Pepperdine, 3-1 in Malibu last week. The Anteaters recorded a season-high 78 kills in the win. Hershko led with 22 kills followed by Hodges and Koubi with 16 and Stadick with a career-high 15.
HIGH FIVE
UCI is 7-0 when going the distance this season.
IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS
The team is third in the country in assists (12.58), fourth in kills (13.33), eighth in hitting percentage (.315) and 10th in aces (1.44).
SAETA THE TRIPLE THREAT
Senior Michael Saeta has done it all this season. He is averaging 9.07 set assists, 0.62 aces and 1.56 kills per game. The lefty, who is hitting .392, has recorded at least three kills in every match this year, including a season-high 21 kills versus USC (2/3).
The setter moved in to a tie with himself for second in aces in a season with 53, eight shy of Carson Clark's record of 61 in 2012. He is second all-time at UCI with 151 and is also tied for second in aces in a match with five.
Saeta, who has 780 set assists this season, is ranked seventh all-time in set assists with 2,414. He had a career-high 65 assists versus Pepperdine last week.
He is second in the MPSF and fourth nationally in aces with a 0.62 mark. The senior is also ranked ninth in the league in assists (9.07).
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Saeta's father Dave played volleyball for Stanford from 1978-81 and brother Andrew swam for the Cardinal from 2010-13.
MAKING NOISE IN THE MIDDLE
Middle blockers Scott Stadick, Matthew Younggren and Andrew Benz were all clicking last Saturday, hitting a combined .548 against Pepperdine with just two errors and six blocks.
Stadick ranks ninth nationally in blocks (1.09) and sixth in hitting percentage (.446). The 7-footer is fourth on the team in kills with a 1.87 average. He has posted a career-best eight block assists five times this season. The freshman is hitting .452 against league opponents, which is fourth in the MPSF.
DIGGING MACHINE
Dillon Hoffman, who is one of the top liberos in the MPSF, is third in the conference with a 2.40 dig mark, but is second in digs overall with 202. The senior ranks 10th nationally in dig average.
NOTABLES FROM THE 2017 SEASON
UCI snapped No. 1 Ohio State's 42-match winning streak with a sweep in Columbus on Mar. 10. Thomas Hodges was named MPSF Player of the Week, while Michael Saeta was named AVCA National Player of the Week following the victory.
UCI beat BYU in Provo on Jan. 27. The only other team able to beat the Cougars at home this season is Long Beach. BYU is 67-8 at home since the start of the 2013 season with the Anteaters winning three of those matches.
Since Ohio State beat Long Beach State on Jan. 28, only three teams have taken a set off of the Forty-Niners – UCI, Cal Baptist and BYU.
Tamir Hershko was named AVCA National Player of the Week (Feb. 28) and MPSF Player of the Week (Feb. 27) following wins over UCLA and UC Santa Barbara.
RANKINGS
UCI stayed at No. 5 for the third consecutive week in the AVCA poll. Fifth is the highest ranking this year.
