Box Score PALO ALTO, Calif. – Senior Thomas Hodges led No. 5 UC Irvine to a 3-1 victory over No. 9 Stanford (25-23, 31-29, 21-25, 25-19) at Maples Pavilion Friday.
Hodges topped UCI (17-6, 11-5) with 18 kills, five digs and two blocks. Junior Aaron Koubi hit .462, recording 16 kills and a team-high seven digs. Senior Tamir Hershko added nine kills, while Scott Stadick had seven kills and six total blocks. Setter Michael Saeta had six kills on six attempts with 45 set assists and two aces.
Stanford (11-11, 6-9) was led by Gabriel Vega with 13 kills followed by Kevin Rakestraw, Clay Jones and Jacob Thoenen with nine kills each.
UC Irvine started quickly with a 4-0 lead then a 7-1 advantage forcing an early Stanford timeout. With the Anteaters leading 11-4, Stanford went on a 4-1 run to close within 12-8, until a kill by Aaron Koubi stopped the momentum. A pair of kills by Stadick and an ace by Tamir Hershko pushed the UCI lead to 18-12 forcing another Cardinal timeout. Following the break, Stanford out-scored UCI 8-2 to tie the set at 20-20. The Anteaters would score the next two on Stanford errors and go on to win the set 25-23 on a Cardinal service error.
Stanford used a 4-1 run in the second set to take a 10-7 lead. The Anteaters would score the next four points on kills by Thomas Hodges and Matt Younggren, a block by Stadick and Michael Saeta and a Cardinal error, 11-10. In a set of runs, Stanford then scored four of the next five to go ahead 14-12. UCI would get as close as one four times, the last 23-22 on back-to-back kills by Hershko and Stadick. Following a kill by Stanford, Hodges put away two kills to knot the score at 24-24. After trading several points, Stanford's third consecutive service error was followed by an ace by Michael Saeta to give UCI a 29-28 lead. After a UCI service error, a kill by Koubi and a Cardinal attack error gave the Anteaters the 31-29 win.
In the third Stanford would take control with an early 4-1 lead and never relinquish the lead, winning 25-19.
A kill by Koubi followed by two Stanford errors, the last a block by Stadick moved UCI in front 14-11. The Anteaters would score the final three points for a 25-19 victory.
The two teams will meet again next Friday (Apr. 7) as UCI finally returns home after a month long road trip.
