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Printer-friendly format Email this article Alex DaPron

UC Irvine Hosts Pacific and Stanford

Anteaters open MPSF Schedule

Jan. 9, 2008

UC IRVINE HOSTS TWO: No. 7 UC Irvine will host Pacific Friday (Jan. 11) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center then takes on No. 5 Stanford Saturday (Jan. 12) in Crawford Court.

This week's pair of matches opens the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation schedule.

VS THE OPPONENTS: UCI holds a 14-10 advantage over Pacific in the series records. The teams split a pair of matches last season, each winning on the opponent's home court.

The Anteaters will face Stanford for the second time in eight days as the Cardinal beat UCI in five games at the Elephant Bar Tournament last Friday. Stanford is 22-10 against UCI all-time, snapping a five match losing streak against the Anteaters with the win in Santa Barbara.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SPERAW? Puerto Rico to be exact. Head coach John Speraw is an assistant coach with the U.S. National team who will be playing in the 2008 NORCECA Men's Continental Olympic Qualification Championship Jan. 6-11 in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Speraw is expected to return on Jan. 12 at some point during the Stanford match. The University has determined that while Speraw is gone wins and losses will not be counted against his record. Speraw is in his sixth season at UCI and will be looking for his 100th career victory (99-57) when he returns.

IN THE RANKINGS: UC Irvine fell to seventh in the AVCA Coaches poll, snapping a 26-week string of being ranked in the nation's top 5.

UC IRVINE OPENS SEASON 2-2: After a 3-0 sweep of Cal Baptist, UCI finished fourth at the UCSB/Elephant Bar Tournament. The Anteaters defeated host UC Santa Barbara, 3-1 then dropped two matches to Stanford (3-2) and Long Beach State (3-0).

Freshman setter Anthony Spittle was named to the Elephant Bar All-Tournament team after recording 112 set assists over nine games.

Against the Gauchos, junior Taylor Wilson recorded a career-high 22 kills, seven blocks, three aces and seven digs.

DUFAULT ENTERS RECORDS BOOKS IN COLLEGIATE DEBUT: Freshman Jordan DuFault fired five service aces against Cal Baptist. The five aces is tied for fifth in the UCI match record books.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Anteaters are 30-3 at home dating back to Jan. 3, 2006.