STANFORD -- The UC Irvine men’s volleyball...

STANFORD -- The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team continued its

breakthrough season by knocking off host Stanford, 27-30, 30-28,

30-24, 31-29, Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific

Sports Federation Tournament.

The win, which advances the No. 5-seeded Anteaters (20-10) into

Thursday’s semifinal against host Pepperdine, was the program’s first

in MPSF Tournament play. Both MPSF semifinals will be played at

Pepperdine.

Jimmy Pelzel led the winners with 29 kills and added 10 digs for

his first career double-double, while Monte Tucker had his second

double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs.

Nic Vislay and Kyle Weichert added 12 kills each for the winners,

who received 10 kills from Spencer Bemus and 69 assists by setter

David Kniffin.

UCI led throughout the second game, though Stanford tied it at 25

and 26, before Vislay evened the match with a kill on game point.

In the fourth game, UCI led, 17-12, but trailed, 26-25, before

tying it at 28 and 29. A Pelzel kill and a combined block by Vislay

and Bemus gave UCI the unprecedented victory.

No. 4-seeded Stanford got 55 assits from Corona del Mar High

product Kevin Hansen and 22 kills from Kurt Toppell. The Cardinal

ends its season at 17-12.