Stanford upsets UCI

STANFORD -- senior William Strickland had a double-double of 17 kills

and 10 digs to lead ninth-ranked Stanford to a 28-30, 32-30, 30-25,

30-23 upset victory over third-ranked UC Irvine Friday night at

Burnham Pavilion.

The Cardinal improved to 8-7, 6-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports

Federation, while the Anteaters dropped to 14-4, 7-4.

Stanford took control of the match late in the second game after

the Anteaters had won Game 1 and had match point at 29-27 in Game 2.

With Strickland at the service line, the Cardinal scored three

straight points to take a 30-29 lead. After the Anteaters tied it at

30, Stanford used a kill from senior William Curtis and a service ace

from sophomore Craig Buell to win the game.

The difference was defense, as the Cardinal recorded 52 digs to 36

for UCI. Stanford hit .397 70-18-131) for the match, while UCI hit

.261 (67-26-157).

The Anteaters opened the match with a flourish by scoring eight of

the final 12 points in Game1 to record a 30-28 victory. After

Stanford cut the deficit to 29-28, UC Irvine wrapped up the game on a

Cardinal service error.

Jimmy Pelzel led the Anteaters with 24 kills and five blocks,

while Kyle Weichert added 12 kills and three blocks.

David Kniffin had 61 assists.