Season in ReviewSeason in Review
Mike Rasay
Men's Volleyball

Season in Review

2017 RECAP: Stanford finished the 2017 campaign 13-13 overall and  8-10 in the MPSF. After being picked to finish seventh by the MPSF coaches, Stanford tied for sixth and secured its ninth postseason appearance under head coach John Kosty. The Cardinal produced four all-conference selections and two AVCA All-Americans.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Fans had access to unique behind-the-scenes content on the team by liking Stanford Men's Volleyball on Facebook or following the team on Twitter (@StanfordMVB) and Instagram (@therealstanfordmvb).

ALL-AMERICANS: Redshirt junior Kevin Rakestraw and junior libero Evan Enriques were both tabbed AVCA All-America honorable mention. The selections brought Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 57 honors spread over 26 players.
 


ALL-MPSF: Led by second-team selection Kevin Rakestraw, Stanford placed four players on the all-conference teams. Junior Evan Enriques and sophomore Jordan Ewert were honorable mention, while Paul Bischoff was named to the all-freshman team.
 


ALL-ACADEMIC: Four Cardinal were named to the MPSF All-Academic Team in 2017. Jordan Ewert, Clay Jones, Kevin Rakestraw and Gabriel Vega were recognized for their combined work athletically and in the classroom.

PLAYOFF SPOTS: Stanford garnered the No. 7 seed in the MPSF Tournament after tying for sixth place in the standings with Pepperdine and USC at 8-10. The Cardinal lost out to Pepperdine on points vs. the group (310-318), but after the tiebreaker then revered back to head-to-head for the remaining tied teams, Stanford beat out USC (1-1 head-on matches, 3-3 sets, 137-131 head-to-head points).

IT'S OUR ANNIVERSARY: The 2017 season marked the 20th anniversary of Stanford's first NCAA championship team. The 1997 squad brought home the title for the Cardinal in its third appearance in the finals. To finish off a 15-7, 15-10, 9-15, 6-15, 15-13 victory over UCLA in the NCAA final, Matt Fuerbringer and Mike Hoefer combined for a block to deliver the championship in Columbus, Ohio. Mike Lambert had 27 kills, Andy Witt 19, and Keenan Whitehurst had 17 kills, nine blocks and a .617 hitting percentage. Lambert was named MVP of the NCAA Final Four and Whitehurst was named to the all-tournament team. 
 


IN THE POLL: Stanford remained at No. 9 in the final AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Poll, securing a top-10 ranking all season. The Cardinal is one of nine MPSF squads to appear in the final poll.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranked 13th nationally with 12.13 kills per set, while also appearing in the top 20 as a team in digs (8.77) and assists (11.47) per set. Individually, Kevin Rakestraw's .433 hitting percentage was third in the nation, while junior Evan Enriques was 13th with 2.36 digs per set.

FILLING THE VOID: Stanford graduated 55 percent of its offensive output from the 2016 season, leaving holes that needed to be filled in 2017. Redshirt senior Gabriel Vega led the way for the Cardinal with 272 kills (3.13 kps), while sophomore Jordan Ewert tallied 198 total kills (3.47 kps) before his season was cut short due to injury. Kevin Rakestraw was third on the team with 197 kills (2.16 kps) as a middle. 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Ewert was selected as the FloVolleyball and MPSF Players of the Week on Feb. 13. The Antioch, California native averaged 4.80 klls and 5.05 points per set on .301 hitting against then-No. 4 UCLA and No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. He set a career-high in kills against UCLA (22) and then surpassed it versus UCSB (26). It marked the first weekly honors for Ewert's career and the Cardinal's lone honor of the season.

TOP-RANKED CLASS: Freshmen Eric Beatty (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Paul Bischoff (Wheaton, Ill.) were named AVCA First Team High School All-Americans. Stanford was one of three teams nationally with two selections to the first team. Jacob Thoenen (St. Charles, Mo.) and Eli Wopat (Santa Barbara, Calif.) earned second team honors, while  Stephen Moye (El Segundo, Calif.) and Mason Tufuga (Costa Mesa, Calif.) round out the Cardinal's freshman class, which was rated No. 1 in the nation by VolleyballMag.com.

OFF THE BLOCK PRESEASON RECOGNITION: Evan Enriques was the first winner of the Erik Shoji Award, given to the nation's top libero by Off The Block after the 2016 season and was a finalist for the award in 2017. The junior was named a first team preseason All-American by the site, which collected votes from head coaches around the nation. Additionally, Jordan Ewert, Kevin Rakestraw, Gabriel Vega and Paul Bischoff all received votes. 
 


FOREIGN TOUR: In late August, Stanford embarked on a tour which spanned two weeks and five countries. It began in Italy, where the Cardinal faced off against recent alum James Shaw and his Padova team, and took the squad to Slovenia, Croatia, Austria and the Czech Republic. The trip was a mixture of competition, sightseeing and cultural experiences for the team.

HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty completed his 11th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 27th overall on staff. He is 187-128 in his career and has guided Stanford to the 2010 NCAA national championship and the 2014 NCAA finals. The Cardinal has produced a first team AVCA All-America selection in eight of the past 10 seasons under Kosty. Stanford has appeared in the MPSF Tournament in nine of Kosty's 11 seasons (missing out in 2007 and 2015).