Facing its first opponent of the regular season, the No. 3 Stanford men’s volleyball team decisively handled No. 8 Hawaii in back-to-back matches this weekend on the Farm.

The Warriors came to Stanford following an upset over the nation’s top-ranked program, USC and looked to extend their winning streak. However, the Cardinal dominated both matches, never trailing by more than one point in any set.

“We knew that UH was a team that could get hot at any moment so we knew it was necessary to have a killer instinct and put them away as early as possible,” said junior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin. “They had just beaten the No. 1 team in the country, so we couldn’t let them get any momentum.”

On Friday, January 15, the Cardinal opened its season at Maples Pavilion to a spirited crowd of costumed students and local volleyball enthusiasts. Despite a match-opening service error, Stanford jumped out to an early 10-6 lead, with multiple kills from senior Evan Romero and sophomore Brad Lawson.

Consistent serving from McLachlin and front row play from sophomore Gus Ellis and senior Garrett Werner aided the Cardinal to a 24-13 lead. Four serves from Myles Muagututia, multiple offensive errors from Hawaii and a final kill by Werner brought the second set to a 30-15 close.

After switching sides, the Cardinal quickly asserted itself in the second set, with a kill from McLachlin and two aces and a kill from Romero.

Three straight service aces by Lawson brought the score to 23-13, but the Warriors rallied back within six points after several Stanford attack errors and Hawaii kills. The team regained its composure with a timeout and the second set ended with a Romero kill and a final score of 30-21.

Like the first two, the third set was dominated by the Card. Ellis went on an early six-serve run, bringing the score to 6-2. Romero, McLachlin and Lawson continued to put down balls from senior setter Kawika Shoji, leading Stanford to an eventual 30-18 third set and 3-0 victory over Hawaii.

Romero and Lawson finished the match with 13 kills apiece. Kawika Shoji played consistently both offensively and defensively with 37 assists and 8 digs. The Cardinal hit .494 versus Hawaii’s .113.

The following day, Stanford faced Hawaii yet again, showing no signs of slowing down from their impressive play the night before.

McLachlin opened the match with a block and three kills. Kawika Shoji maintained the momentum with two kills and an assist to Romero, helping Stanford to a 9-3 lead.

The teams went back and forth with multiple service and attack errors on each side with the Cardinal maintaining an 8 to 10 point lead. Five late Hawaii kills and a service ace brought the score to 28-23, but a kill by Lawson followed by a Lawson-Ellis block closed the first set at 30-23.

The second set proved to be the closest of the matches with the teams going back and forth on almost every point. Romero and Lawson traded kills with Hawaii’s Jonas Umlauft and Joshua Walker.

At 20-18, a kill and ace by McLachlin gave Stanford a four-point lead, which was carried to the set’s final score of 30-26.

Ellis started the third set strong, with the opening kill followed by three serves. McLachlin did the same, contributing three kills of his own to bring Stanford to a 4-1 lead. Hawaii came back to close the gap, but after the Warriors’ Joshua Walker served an ace to make the score 16-11, Hawaii never came within five points of the Card.

Two kills from Evan Romero as well as several attacking errors from Hawaii helped Stanford widen the lead to seven points at 18-11.

Two consecutive blocks from Ellis and two kills by Garrett Dobbs brought the team into the final stretches of the match. A kill from Garrett Werner ended the final set of the series at 30-19, with the Cardinal completing a two-match, six-set sweep over the Warriors.

Sophomore libero Erik Shoji finished the match with an impressive 14 digs and brother Kawika contributed 41 assists. The Cardinal put down 50 kills, led by Romero with 14, McLachlin with 13 and Lawson with 11. Hawaii’s Umlauft and Walker contributed 11 kills each. Stanford finished the weekend with 13 service aces versus Hawaii’s two.

“Our serving the first match was probably the best we have served as a team since I have been at Stanford,” McLachlin said. “Secondly, we blocked extremely well.”

Overall, Stanford was pleased with its showing this weekend and is hopeful for what looks to be a promising season.

“Our maturity helps us stay focused,” said Kawika Shoji. “We are an older, more experienced team that understands what it takes to win and reach our goals. These first two matches have given us great confidence going into this weekend’s matchup with BYU. We are off to a good start, but understand that we have a long way to go.”

The Cardinal will next face No. 5 BYU this Friday and Saturday in Provo, Utah.