“;Worst to first.”;

It's been the motto for the five seniors on the Stanford men's volleyball team for the past four years. They began their Cardinal careers with a last-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, 3-25 overall, and vowed they would leave the program with a national title.

“;We were pretty bad our freshman year,”; senior All-America setter Kawika Shoji said. “;Hopefully, we'll be first at the end of this season.

“;But the MPSF could be the toughest it's been in my four years here and it's hard to predict who will be the top teams, who makes the playoffs. We've been saying that it's a two-point league, that's the margin between the teams and anyone can win any night.”;

Stanford hosts the NCAA championship in May and “;there's definitely extra incentive to be home, playing for the title,”; Shoji said. “;And I would love for it to be us and Hawaii in the final. We have so many players and coaches from Hawaii ... it's our second-favorite team.

“;We all root for them and want them to win ... except when we play them.”;

That happens tonight when the Warriors and Cardinal open MPSF play in Maples Pavilion. Hawaii (2-1) is coming off a big win over top-ranked USC in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational championship, while Stanford makes its 2010 debut.

“;This is a great test for us,”; Warrior senior libero Ric Cervantes said. “;Stanford is probably the best team in the league. It's going to be a battle.”;

Or two—since the teams meet again tomorrow. And, if Shoji has his way, a third battle come May.

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation preview capsules

A look at the teams according to the MPSF coaches preseason rankings (last year's records in parenthesis):

1. USC (21-11, 13-9): The Trojans finished fifth in the conference last year but got hot, winning the MPSF tournament title and finishing second to UC Irvine in the national final.

USC returns six starters, including junior All-America opposite Murphy Troy and junior setter Riley McKibbin (Punahou '07), both of whom where named to the Outrigger all-tournament team.

The Trojans also have two other Hawaii prep products in junior hitter Tri Bourne (AOP '07) and McKibbin's younger brother Maddison (Punahou '09), a freshman hitter.

USC (3-1, 1-0) opened MPSF play on the road with a 3-1 win over crosstown rival UCLA on Wednesday. Troy had 18 kills and Bourne added 14 kills and eight blocks.

2. UC Irvine (27-5, 19-3): The defending national champions return three All-Ameicans in sophomore opposite Carson Clark, junior middle Kevin Wynne and junior hitter Jordan DuFault.

One of the Anteaters' biggest losses was that of graduated libero Brent Asuka ('Iolani '05), the program's career digs leader. Senior Kevin Welch has started off well in that spot, with 13 digs in UCI's 3-1 win over visiting Pepperdine on Wednesday in the MPSF opener for both teams.

Clark had a career-high 26 kills for UCI (3-1, 1-0).

3. Stanford (21-11, 14-8): The Cardinal have seven players from Hawaii and two coaches with island ties in former Punahou coach and athletic director Chris McLachlin (assistant) and former Warriors setter Daniel Rasay (volunteer assistant).

Leading Stanford (0-0) are All-America setter Kawika Shoji ('Iolani '06) and younger brother Erik (Punahou '08), a sophomore All-America libero who was the 2009 national newcomer of the year. Also among the five starters back are junior hitter Spencer McLachlin (Punahou '07) and sophomore hitter Brad Lawson ('Iolani '08).

Rounding out those with Hawaii ties are junior libero Jordan Inafuku (Kamehameha '07), junior middle Max Halvorson (Punahou '07) and freshman setter Chandler Kaaa (Kamehameha-Hawaii '09).

4. BYU (17-13, 13-9): The Cougars return all seven starters, led by senior hitter Andrew Stewart and senior setter Yamil Perez. Also back is sophomore middle Futi Tavana (Kauai '05).

BYU (2-1, 0-0) finished second at last week's Elephant Bar Invitational, with wins over UC Irvine and UCLA and a 3-1 loss to Cal State Northridge in the title match. Stewart had double-digit kills in all three matches, including 17 in the loss to the Matadors.

The Cougars open MPSF play tonight when hosting Pacific in the first of two consecutive matches.

5. Pepperdine (22-5, 18-4): The Waves have five starters back from the team that was upset in the MPSF tournament final by eventual national runner-up USC.

Again running the team is junior All-America setter Kasey Crider, with the defense anchored by senior libero Sean Grubbs. Pepperdine will sorely miss opposite Paul Carroll, the 2009 national player of the year, but has senior hitter J.D. Schleppenbach back after a redshirt year in which he underwent shoulder surgery.

The Waves (0-2, 0-1) opened the season with a five-set loss at Cal Baptist, then fell at UC Irvine in four on Wednesday to start the MPSF campaign. Freshman opposite Maurice Torres had 15 kills and senior middle Rodnei Santos added 10 in the loss to the Anteaters.

6. UCLA (14-16, 10-12): Legendary coach Al Scates (1,155-226) is in his 46th year with the Bruins, who have five starters back from the team that finished fifth in the MPSF.

Leading the way is senior hitter Garrett Muagututia, who was named all-tournament at last week's Elephant Bar Invitational at UC Santa Barbara. UCLA finished fourth after hanging on against UC San Diego in five, losing in five to BYU and in three to Cal Baptist.

The Bruins (1-4, 0-1) lost their third in a row on Wednesday when falling to rival USC. Sophomore Jack Bolales had a career-high 25 kills for UCLA.

7. Long Beach State (14-14, 11-11): The 49ers return six starters, including senior All-America opposite Dean Bittner and senior Tommy Pestolesi, the son of former Hawaii players Tom Pestolesi and Diana Sebastian Pestolesi.

The Beach finished sixth at the UCSB tournament, with a five-set loss to Cal Baptist, a five-set win over the host Gauchos and a 3-1 loss to UC Irvine.

The 49ers (2-2, 1-0) opened MPSF play on Wednesday with a five-set win at UC Santa Barbara, getting four aces in the deciding fifth set from senior middle Dan Alexander.

Andy Reed is in his first year as interim head coach while Alan Knipe coaches the U.S. national team.

8. CSU Northridge (24-7, 16-6): The Matadors, with six returning starters, opened with an impressive showing at the UCSB tournament, finishing with the championship and the MVP trophies.

Senior middle Kevin McKniff shared co-MPSF weekly honors after finishing with 45 kills, including 15 kills in the title match against BYU. Also back for the Matadors are senior middle blocker Jacek Ratajczak, a third-team All-American, sophomore setter Matt Stork and senior libero Kaleo Baxter (Kauai '05).

CSUN (4-0, 1-0) opened MPSF play on Wednesday with a sweep of visiting UC San Diego.

9. Hawaii (9-18, 6-16): The Warriors (2-1) made first-year coach Charlie Wade's debut a successful one by winning the Outrigger tournament for the first time since 2006.

Junior hitter Joshua Walker was named the event's Most Outstanding Player and earned co-player of the week honors in the MPSF, putting down a combined 63 kills. Joining him on the all-tournament team was freshman opposite Jonas Umlauft.

Hawaii returns six starters, including senior middles Matt Rawson and Steven Grgas. Running the Warriors' offense is junior setter Nejc Zemljak.

10. UC Santa Barbara (8-19, 8-18): The Gauchos return all seven starters, including junior hitter Jeff Menzel, who notched his 1,000th career kill in a loss to CSU Northridge in the opener of their Elephant Bar Invitational.

UCSB finished eighth in the event, including losses to Long Beach State and UC San Diego. The Gauchos (0-4, 0-1) dropped their MPSF opener Wednesday in five to visiting Long Beach State, their third five-set loss in three matches.

Junior opposite Cullen Irons had 21 kills and 10 digs against the 49ers.

11. UC San Diego (13-15, 8-14): The Tritons are coming off their most successful season in program history (13 victories). Back are senior opposite Frank Fritsch, senior hitter Jason Spangler and junior hitter Wil Ehrman (Punahou '06).

Fritsch had 27 kills to pass the 1,000-kill career mark and Ehrman added 17 in a five-set win over UCSB to finish seventh in the Elephant Bar Invitational.

UCSD (1-3, 0-1) was swept in its MPSF opener at CSUN on Wednesday, the 35th straight the Tritons have lost to the Matadors.

12. Pacific (3-28, 0-22): The Tigers (4-0, 0-0) have already won more matches this season than all of last year and are coming off a sweep of UC Santa Cruz.

UOP had a busy fall season, with sophomore middle blocker Chaz Hindsley named to the Dino Cup all-tournament team in Canada, and a third-place finish at the USC tournament.

The Tigers have three Hawaii prep products in redshirt freshman setter Jeremy Kaimikaua (Punahou '08), senior setter-opposite Kevin Downing (Kauai '05) and redshirt sophomore opposite Nicolaas Schenk (HPA '07).

UOP opens MPSF play at BYU tonight.