April 19, 2008
When 2008 began, Stanford men's volleyball preached improvement and consistent play. The team knew that 2008 was going to be different than 2007, and with 17 victories at season's end, the team responded in a big way and set the tone for the program in the future. The Cardinal fell on Friday night to CS Northridge (26-30, 19-30, 28-30) in the first round of the MPSF Tournament, but took away a lot of good in 2008 and set the building blocks for 2009 and beyond.
The Cardinal, playing in their first MPSF tournament in five years came out strong in the first game, but stumbled in the end in the 30-26 loss. Stanford was led by freshman Spencer McLachlin, who recorded 10 kills in the loss and capped off a very strong freshman campaign for the Cardinal.
CS Northridge blitzed the Cardinal in the second game and never trailed in entire game. The Matadors had a six point lead at 16-10 and pushed their lead out to 28-18 at the end of the game en route to the 30-19 win. Sophomore Kawika Shoji capped off another All-MPSF campaign with 22 assists, and finished with 990 assist on the season. Shoji was one of 11 underclassmen on a team that should be looking to further improve in 2009. The team loses two seniors in Jesse Meredith and Matt Ceran, but brings on four more recruits and retains 15 other players.
Freshman Jordan Inafuku capped off an impressive freshman season with three digs to finish the season with 192 and led the team. Inafuku, one of the four native Hawaiians on the squad, made huge strides throughout the 2008 season and will likely produce more in 2009. Sophomore Evan Romero finished his season with eight more kills and led the team with 426.
Ceran concluded his Cardinal career third all-time in kills and led the squad in his final match with 11 digs. The senior from Los Angeles, Calif. was consistent throughout the season and was a major reason the Cardinal was able to increase their win total by 14 matches in 2008.
Stanford dropped the third and final game tonight 30-28, but 2008 was a big step in getting Stanford men's volleyball to where it was just a short time ago. The 2008 Cardinal put the team back on the map nationally, and set the tone for what should be a national championship contender in 2009.