May 5, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. - Senior senior Kawika Shoji was named the National Player of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the second Stanford player to achieve the honor.
Shoji, a three-time All-American, has led Stanford to a No. 1 ranking and an NCAA semifinal matchup against Ohio State on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal has the top hitting percentage in the country (.352) largely because of Shoji, an all-around standout who is skilled as a hitter, blocker and defensive player, as well as a passer.
The award was announced during banquet on the Stanford campus held in conjunction with the NCAA Collegiate Championship, held at Maples Pavilion on Thursday and Saturday, and presented by Kevin Hansen, a former Stanford All-America setter who went on to win an Olympic gold medal with the 2008 U.S. national team.
"It's a great, great honor," Shoji said. "I am very proud. I have to thank my coaches and especially my teammates. It's a team game, and individual awards come with team accolades. Without our team, this award would not have happened."
Shoji has eclipsed Hansen as the Stanford record-holder in career digs, aces and sets played, and should break Hansen's season mark for assists on Thursday.
"To have him present the award to me meant a lot," Shoji said.
They had met once before, but Shoji had reached out to Hansen over the past two years via e-mail and asked for his advice on setting and breaking into professional volleyball.
"He's been the leader of this team," Hansen said. "And to see it rise to achieve what it has says a lot about his character. He's obviously one of the best setters to come out of this program. And he's got a lot of volleyball left to play."
Shoji is averaging 13.78 assists, 2.46 digs, 0.89 kills, and 0.61 blocks per set. But numbers hardly do justice in illustrating his talent. They can't describe his ability to read a defense, cover ground, absorb a hard attack, or turn a poor pass into a perfect set.
"His competitiveness and knowledge of the game, and athletic ability, is what sets him apart," Stanford coach John Kosty said. "It's a true combination of all three of those. Its years and years of knowledge, through working with his dad (longtime University of Hawaii women's coach Dave Shoji), to watching his dad coach the Hawaii program.
"It's an honor for the program. I look at Kawika winning as, he's the setter and our team captain and leader, but he also represents our team. It is a team award. There are a lot of people who have helped him achieve what he's achieved."
Shoji said he wasn't surprised by the honor, but had not given the possibility a lot of thought.
"I haven't been too focused on individual awards," Shoji said. "We're just focused on Ohio State. The whole year we've been talking about is our team goals. To be honest, that is all that matters. I thought about this for 30 seconds and it's already on to my assignments for Ohio State."
The only previous Player of the Year from Stanford was Canyon Ceman in 1993.
Stanford also received another prestigious honor Wednesday, when senior middle blocker Garrett Werner was awarded the NCAA's Elite 88 award for having the highest GPA among athletes at his sport's NCAA Championhip.
Werner, a civil engineering major, carries a cumulative GPA of 3.953.