May 4, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. -
Complete Release in PDF Format
This Week
The No. 1 Stanford men’s volleyball team hopes to complete a “Worst to First” journey that began in 2007 when the current senior class endured a 3-25 season as freshmen. That class, which includes All-Americans and Stanford record-setters Kawika Shoji and Evan Romero, now hopes to lead the Cardinal to its second-ever NCAA title and first since 1997. Heading into the first NCAA final four ever held in Northern California, Stanford is the No. 1 seed and the nation’s top-ranked team. The Cardinal (22-6) plays host to No. 4-seeded Ohio State in the 8 p.m. nightcap to Thursday’s semifinal doubleheader at Maples Pavilion that begins with No. 2 Cal State Northridge (23-9) against No. 3 Penn State (23-7) at 6 p.m.
| Year | Overall | Ranking | MPSF | Place | Postseason |
| 2007 | 3-25 | none | 2-20 | 11th (tie) | none |
| 2008 | 17-11 | 9 | 12-10 | 4th (tie) | MPSF First Round |
| 2009 | 21-11 | 6 | 14-8 | 4th | MPSF First Round |
| 2010 | 22-6 | 1 | 16-6 | 1st | NCAA Semifinals |
Strongest Conference in the Country
Stanford captured its first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season title since 1997 by edging BYU and Cal State Northridge on the final night of the regular season. Stanford and BYU entered their season finales tied and BYU had the tiebreaker edge. But the Cougars lost to visiting Northridge, and Stanford won at UC Irvine to claim the outright title and the No. 1 seed for the MPSF playoffs. Stanford coach John Kosty withheld the news of the BYU result from his team, which didn’t learn it had won the title until UCI announced the score following Stanford’s victory, sparking a wild celebration.
Ohio State has won 12 consecutive matches and is led by two second-team All-Americans, junior setter Steven Kehoe -- the younger brother of graduated Stanford women’s volleyball first-team All-American setter Bryn Kehoe -- and sophomore opposite hitter Shawn Sangrey. The Buckeyes are coached by 10-time MIVA Coach of the Year Pete Hansen, now in his 26th season.
The Stanford-Ohio State Series
The Cardinal is 8-0 all-time against the Buckeyes, but they have never played in the postseason. The teams last played on Jan. 16, 2009, when Stanford returned to St. John Arena for the first time since winning the NCAA title there in 1997. Stanford won, 30-28, 30-26, 36-34, while the outside temperature was minus-3 degrees. Freshmen Brad Lawson and Gus Ellis finished the match with a stuff block, but it wasn’t the pivotal play. That took place in the first set, when an Evan Romero kill broke a 28-28 tie. Before that, the teams hadn’t played since 1997.
Stanford Record-Breakers
The following are Stanford school records that have been broken this season:
• Evan Romero extended his school career record (set last year) for kills in the rally-scoring era. He has 1,755.
• Kawika Shoji broke the career service ace record in the rally-scoring set by Kevin Hansen (2002-05), which was 91. Shoji has 108.
• Kawika Shoji broke the career digs record (rally-scoring era) of 711, once held by Hansen. Kawika Shoji has 822. Erik Shoji is No. 2 at 790.
• Garrett Werner broke the career rally-scoring era record for total blocks, once held by Chris Ahlfeldt (2003-06), who had 289. Werner has 361.
• Kawika Shoji broke Kevin Hansen’s school record for sets played (all eras) of 392. Shoji has 405. Evan Romero is right behind at 404.
• Kawika Shoji is on the verge of breaking his own season rally-scoring record for assists. Shoji had 1,394 in 2009. He now has 1.364.
Stanford Storyline: Crowd Favorites
The Cardinal has a boisterous and outrageous student section with many appearing in costume. Regulars arrive dressed as figures such as Pac Man, Cookie Monster, Fat Bastard, Speedy Gonzales, Oscar the Grouch, Jack-In-The-Box, Ernie from Sesame Street, Star Wars rebel fighter pilots, flashers, hospital patients, chefs, cows, bowling pins, pirates, football players, prisoners, leprauchans, and even a clone of coach John Kosty himself. Most of the costumed fans are from the Kappa Alpha fraternity house, but other students have joined in as well, creating an environment unique in collegiate sports.
All-Americans
Four Stanford players were named AVCA All-Americans this year, with three -- Kawika Shoji, Erik Shoji, and Brad Lawson -- earning first-team honors. Evan Romero was named to the second team.
• Brad Lawson, soph., outside hitter: Lawson was selected as the MPSF Player of the Year and was named to the MPSF’s All-Tournament team. The Honolulu native has had a breakout season, emerging as one of the most dangerous hitters in the college game and one of the best all-around players. Lawson leads the Cardinal in kills per game (484, 4.84) and service aces (36, 0.36), is third in digs (155, 1.55), fourth in assists (44, 0.44), and fourth in blocks (56, 0.56).
• Evan Romero, sr., opposite hitter: Romero was named the MPSF Tournament Most Valuable Player after combining for 37 kills, 11 digs, seven blocks and two aces in Stanford’s sweeps of Hawai’i and Cal State Northridge. He also hit .409 in the two matches. Romero is Stanford’s all-time kills leader in the rally-scoring era with 1,755.
• Kawika Shoji, sr., setter: A contender for National Player of the Year, which will be awarded May 5, Shoji is a two-time first-team All-American, and a returning academic All-American. No one has affected the rise of Stanford volleyball more than Shoji. The Honolulu native exercised a leap of faith when he committed to a struggling Stanford program, but became influential in making Stanford attractive to potential recruits, many from his home state of Hawaii. Shoji is averaging 13.78 assists, 2.46 digs, 0.89 kills, and 0.61 blocks per set. But numbers can’t desribe his ability to read the defense, cover ground like a center fielder, turn a wild pass into a perfect set, dump the ball into open space, or unleash a blind one-handed set.
• Erik Shoji, soph., libero: Only a sophomore, Shoji may be revolutionizing the game. As a freshman, he earned first-team All-America honors while establishing a national season record for digs, with 447 (3.92 per set), and was named AVCA Newcomer of the Year. This year, Shoji led the MPSF with 343 digs (3.40).
John Kosty: MPSF Coach of the Year
Fourth-year head coach John Kosty recently earned his first MPSF Coach of the Year honor for his work in leading Stanford to improved seasons each year as coach. Kosty has been on the Stanford staff since 1992 and has been a part of four conference championship teams and assisted on Ruben Nieves’ 1997 NCAA championship team.