Jan. 18, 2005

Stanford, Calif. -

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THIS WEEK: Stanford travels south for a rematch of their Elephant Bar Tournament loss to Long Beach State on Wednesday, followed by the year's first meeting with UC San Diego on Friday. Stanford lost all three of its matches against Long Beach State in 2004 while splitting two matches against UC San Diego.

STANFORD IN THE POLLS: The Cardinal, off to a 2-3 start overall with a 1-1 record in MPSF play, stayed at No. 8 in the latest USA Today/AVCA poll.

LAST WEEK: Stanford opened MPSF play on Thursday with a decisive 3-0 win over No. 12 USC. In addition to the win, fifth year senior setter Kevin Hansen surpassed the 4,000 career assists mark, making him the fourth player in Stanford history to reach the milestone. In Friday's match, Stanford suffered its first loss at home, losing to Pepperdine in four games.

SCOUTING THE 49ERS: Long Beach State enters the week with a 3-2 overall record and a 1-1 mark in MPSF play ... Setter Tyler Hildabrand posting 14.15 assists per game... The 49ers are coming off of a 3-1 win over UC Santa Barbara where senior Yassir Sliti scored 20 kills.

SCOUTING THE TRITONS: UC San Diego enters the week with a 0-3 overall record and a 0-2 mark in MPSF action ... The Tritons are currently sitting just outside the USA Today/AVCA top 15 ... UC San Diego is coming off of a 2-3 loss to UC Santa Barbara where Adam Rusch registered nine block assists.

THE 4,000 CLUB: Fifth-year senior setter Kevin Hansen now sits fourth on Stanford's list of career leaders in assists with 4,052. Hansen is a three time All-MPSF selection and was named a third team All-American following the 2004 season.