1997 National Champions
Stanford captured its first national title on its third appearance in an NCAA final, and did so in dramatic fashion.
In Stanford lore, championship point is known simply as “The Block.”
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.
Stanford finished off the season with 16 victories. With eight more to begin the 1998 season, the Cardinal established a 24-match winning streak that remains a school record.
The championship match, against two-time defending champion UCLA – the team that had handed Stanford its last loss – was virtually even. At 13-13, the ninth tie of the set, a UCLA serve into the net gave Stanford the advantage it needed. The Block sealed it.
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.
“We achieved a goal, and any time you can achieve a goal in your life, it’s pretty sweet,” Fuerbringer said.
Ruben Nieves was named Coach of the Year by the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine. Fuerbringer was named first-team All-American by both, and Lambert gained second team All-America honors. Setter Stewart Chong was named an honorable mention All-American.
2010 National Champions
In 2007, assistant coach Al Roderigues helped convince a shell-shocked group of freshmen during a 3-25 season that they were capable of something special.
“Before you’re done, you’ll go Worst to First,” he said. And they believed him.
When Roderigues died, on March 19, 2010, he did so with the understanding that just days before, Stanford had just climbed into first place in conference play and to No. 1 in the national rankings.
With the name “AL” sewn onto the sleeves of their jerseys, Stanford indeed went “Worst to First,” sweeping Penn State, 30-25, 30-20, 30-18, in the NCAA final before a men’s volleyball-record crowd of 6,635 at Maples Pavilion.
Brad Lawson highlighted the match with a 24-kill championship performance. Lawson had only one error and a hitting percentage of .891 in what may have been the greatest performance by an outside hitter in the history of the NCAA finals.
Lawson joined setter Kawika Shoji, libero Erik Shoji, and senior opposite Evan Romero on the AVCA All-America team, with Kawika Shoji named national Player of the Year and John Kosty earning Coach of the Year honors.
Stanford (24-6) was on such a roll that it swept its final four postseason opponents, finishing the season by winning 14 consecutive sets, the most to close any team’s championship year since 1993. The Cardinal also became the first to pull off the championship triple – winning the NCAA, and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season and tournament titles in the same season – since 2005