Follow
UC Irvine and Stanford following a one-year hiatus will resume their rivalry.
The Cardinal as part of recently unveiling its 2022 regular season announced it will play a home-and-home non-conference series against the Anteaters in January.
The two former conference rivals had met every year since 1988 until they were prevented from playing in 2021 because the MPSF and Big West switched to conference-only schedules due to the coronavirus pandemic. UC Irvine since departing the MPSF in 2018 is 4-1 against Stanford.
The Cardinal ended last season in seventh place in the MPSF and lost in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
Along with competing in a pandemic season, Stanford was on the verge of playing its final season in program history. The university in the offseason overturned a 2020 decision that would have terminated the men’s volleyball program
UC Irvine finished the 2021 season at No. 15 in the national coaches poll and advanced to the Big West Tournament quarterfinals. Among the starters returning for the Anteaters include Big West All-Freshman outside attackers Franccesco Sani and Cole Gillis who in the offseason helped the United States win the bronze medal at the Pan American Cup.
Stanford will play host to the opener of the home-and-home series on Jan. 8, while UC Irvine will have its home match the following week on Jan. 14.
The series opener also will cap off a three-match season opening homestand for the Cardinal. Stanford will have a two-match non-conference series against Lindenwood on Jan. 5-6.
2022 Stanford regular season schedule
Jan. 5 vs. Lindenwood
Jan. 6 vs. Lindenwood
Jan. 8 vs. UC Irvine
Jan. 14 at UC Irvine
Jan. 15 at UC San Diego
Jan. 21 vs. Vanguard
Jan. 22 vs. UC Santa Cruz
Feb. 4 vs. Kentucky State
Feb. 5 vs. Hawai’i
Feb. 11 vs. Menlo
Feb. 18 vs. CSUN
Feb. 25 at Long Beach State
Feb. 26 at CSUN
March 4 at Concordia-Irvine
March 5 at Concordia-Irvine
March 11 vs. UCLA
March 12 vs. UCLA
March 25 vs. USC
March 26 vs. USC
March 31 at Grand Canyon
April 2 at Grand Canyon
April 8 vs. BYU
April 9 vs. BYU
April 14 at Pepperdine
April 16 at Pepperdine