Nov. 1, 2011

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford men's volleyball team will play defending national champion Ohio State, as well as every team in last year's NCAA final four, in the 2012 season.

The Cardinal, which released its schedule Tuesday, will travel to Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 27-28, to play in a tournament against NCAA semifinalists Ohio State and Penn State, on back to back nights. This will be Stanford's first meeting with both teams since playing each in the 2010 final four at Maples Pavilion on the way to winning a national championship.

Brad Lawson was dominant in the NCAA final against Penn State, with 24 kills.

In addition, Stanford's typically brutal Mountain Pacific Sports Federation schedule includes such teams as UC Santa Barbara and USC, the other 2011 NCAA semifinalists.

Stanford, which features returning first-team All-Americans Lawson and Erik Shoji, will open with a pair of exhibition matches against Thompson Rivers of Kamloops, British Columbia, on Jan. 6-7.

Stanford's regular-season opener is at Pacific on Jan. 11, and the home opener is Jan. 13 against Juniata of Huntingdon, Pa., a program coached to three Molten Invitational Division III titles by current Stanford associate head coach Ken Shibuya.

The Cardinal will play only two of its first 13 matches at home - going a stretch of nearly six weeks without a home match. However, Stanford will play 11 of its final 13 matches at home, and will not leave California over the season's final two months.

Stanford is coming off a 19-9 season, a third-place MPSF finish, and a No. 7 final AVCA ranking. The Cardinal returns six of its seven starters.

Click here for the full schedule.