Being without the two webcast stalwarts BYU and Hawaii this week (and indeed, all month) I had to look around a little this evening for a match with "viddy." This was definitely the most appealing matchup of them, with co-#1 UC Irvine taking on #4 Stanford. It's my first direct look at the Anteaters this year.
But there were a few factors going against my giving this match my usual perusal-quality write-up (yes, you're using the word "peruse" wrongly, look it up). One, I must admit, was my stomach — I had a pot on the stove right as the match was starting. But also, there were some strange problems with the video as it started. First, the video was in black and white. Then it was gone. Then it was replaced by the image of two dudes talking by what looked to be a baseball field (but the audio was still from the volleyball gym). Then it came back — black and white again — and then it was at last in colour. But kind of a weird, muted colour.
Even when it came back, there was no on-screen scoreboard, which I'm slightly embarrassed to say I kind of need to follow along. No commentators, either, but the PA announcer was clearly audible. I thought he was pretty good, and helped by giving a running score, too. The Cardinal took the first few points of the match before Irvine ran out to an 11-6 advantage on some really excellent serving. From Stanford's timeout there, they ate into the advantage a bit, closing to 13-10 at Irvine's timeout. Stanford had closed to within two at 17-15 when the Cardinal spotted them a couple with some gruesome offensive breakdowns. 19-15 at that point, and the Anteaters poured it on from there and closed it out 25-18 on a service ace from Scott Kevorken. They traveled a few fans to Palo Alto, as there were the occasional little "Ant-eat-ers!" chants.
James Shaw came up with a really nifty dig early in set two, sliding on his knees and immediately popping to his feet again in perfect stride. Not easy to do that at all, let alone timing it right to get to the ball when he did. But the Anteaters wound up taking the rally. They took the early lead in set two, but Steven Irvin's run on serve got the Cardinal even at 4. The set ran even for quite a while. The rally ending 12-11 was pretty incredible, with an Irvine player (didn't catch who) running off the court after a wayward ball and perfectly setting the right-side hitter for a kill. They ran off the next two as well to go up 14-11 at Stanford's timeout. The Cardinal got the sideout and the point on serve after the timeout, but did not draw even, as Irvine got a kill from the middle to go up 15-13. The elastic seemed to snap, as Irvine went up four for the first time at 18-14 on a block led by Kevorken, and the Cardinal never got closer. On set point at 24-18, Shaw attempted one of his normally-foolproof dump shot attempts, only to get stuffed by Kevin Tillie, making it 2-0 Anteaters.
Stanford made it clear early in set three that they had no intention to go quietly into that good, good night, taking the first five points of the set before UCI's timeout. The Stanford crowd got a little rowdy, chanting "Worst libero ever" at UCI's Michael Brinkley, which I thought was sort of harsh. These two schools have a rivalry I didn't know about? The Anteaters finally sided out at 6-1 — on a service error ending Jake Kneller's run. And then they gave it right back with an error of their own, establishing Stanford's solid lead in the set. Stanford ran out further to 9-2, and you could already tell we were probably headed to a 4th. UCI chipped away at it to close within three at 11-8, but Stanford had another run in them to pull away 16-10. Madison Hayden entered as a serving sub and immediately supplied an ace to make it 19-12 Cardinal to prompt UCI's final timeout. UCI had another run in them, prompting Stanford's timeout at 23-18, but the Cardinal still managed to close it out 25-20.
The Anteaters came out strong in the fourth, getting the first two points on rather emphatic kills and running out to 7-3 at Stanford's timeout. The Cardinal helped them out a little, with hitting errors and at least one net fault. UCI pulled away more after the timeout, going up by seven at 11-4 on Jeremy Dejno's service ace, but Stanford responded by running back to 13-9, the last point a beauty of a serve from Kneller leading to an over-pass SMASH for Irvin on the left side. The Anteaters took their first timeout of the set there, but the Cardinal came out strongest closing to within two for the first time since the early going, at 15-12, and then Irvin's ace brought them back within a point at 16-15, and then Conrad Kaminski brought them even at 17-all with a solo block. But from there the elastic snapped again. On Daniel Stork's serve, the Anteaters ran out to 21-18 at Stanford's final timeout, and it wasn't a whole lot longer before they ended the match.
#1 UC Irvine d. #4 Stanford (25-18, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23)
Solid match between two really good teams. One gets the sense that it's just not quite Stanford's time. Though with just one senior on the squad, hello, 2014 should be exciting (not that this year is over or anything, but they're probably not getting past UCI or BYU to get to the Final Four). Irvine looked, if slightly, the better team throughout. There's no flaws in that team's game. They came within spitting distance of climbing out of the hole they climbed into to start the 3rd (and those just happen sometimes). Elsewhere, they weren't much worse than sideout volleyball all the way, but for a point or two here and there.
Stanford next face UC San Diego, and UC Irvine's next opponent will be University of the Pacific. Quick turnaround for both teams, as both of those matches are tomorrow night.
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