A month into the season, the No. 6 Stanford men’s volleyball team is heading back to where it started. The Cardinal will visit No. 7 Cal State Northridge, its opponent in its first match of 2008 three weeks ago, and then UC-Santa Barbara, who hosted the preseason Elephant Bar tournament — Stanford was runner-up in the event.

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Jaclyn Tandler

The Cardinal won its first match against Northridge on Jan. 4 in the Elephant Bar Tournament. However, the Matadors were playing without redshirt freshman Cody Loe, a starter. They were still able to force a fourth game, and almost forced a fifth before Stanford won.

At the Elephant Bar on Jan. 4, Stanford (5-3, 2-2 MPSF) opened its season against Northridge (4-2, 2-1), winning in four games behind 19 kills by senior outside hitter Matt Ceran. Though Stanford won the match, it took a 32-30 score in game four to prevent a tie-breaking fifth game. The Cardinal will take on the Matadors tonight on the road, this time in an MPSF conference match.

“It does help, but it helps both teams equally,” head coach John Kosty said of the familiarity from the first meeting. “I think the level of play will probably be higher in this game than it was a couple of weeks ago. They were not at full strength then. Cody Loe is back in the starting lineup and that makes them a much stronger team.”

Loe, a six-foot-eight redshirt freshman, missed the first meeting because of a conflicting class, but returned to lead the team with 12 kills, five blocks and hit .500 against Santa Barbara. On the season, he is second on the team in kills and blocks and boasts a team-high .453 hitting percentage.

“Cody Loe is a big, strong middle blocker,” Kosty said. “He attacks well and is a good blocker, and they definitely missed him in the Santa Barbara tournament.”

Eric Vance led Northridge against Stanford with 16 kills and is the team’s top hitter with just over four kills per game. He also leads the team in aces (8) and digs (45) and is third in blocks (13). Setter Travis Bluemling is averaging nearly 12.5 assists per game and Kevin McKniff is the Matadors’ top blocker with 26.

Northridge is a more experienced team than the Cardinal, with only three true freshmen on the roster. That experience could come into play tonight.

“They are a very good serving and passing team and they have had the same core of guys for the last couple of years,” Kosty said. “So we know what to expect — they will dig a lot of balls and block a lot of balls and pass well. We need to make sure we keep up with them in that.”

Since that first weekend in Santa Barbara when Stanford won two of its three matches, the Cardinal has lost only twice, to No. 5 UCLA and No. 2 Pepperdine, both in four games. The team had won three in a row before falling to the Waves at home last Saturday.

Ceran and sophomore right side hitter Evan Romero lead the Cardinal offense, each averaging approximately four kills per game. Romero also has the team high in aces, while Ceran is the top digger. Freshman Charley Henrikson and junior Brandon Williams are Stanford’s leading blockers, with Romero right behind.

The Matadors won their first MPSF match in four games over No. 11 USC, before being swept by Pepperdine. Last week, they beat traveling partner UC-San Diego in four games. For the Cardinal to stop that winning streak at one, the simple things will be key.

“It just goes back to volleyball basics, serving and passing,” Kosty said. “We need to be in system, and if we do that then I think we will have a very good chance to win.”

Stanford will play at Santa Barbara tomorrow before returning to campus for two weeks of home play. The Gauchos (1-5, 0-3) beat Pacific in four games at the end of the Elephant Bar, but have lost their last three in a row to Pepperdine, USC and Northridge.