THIS WEEK: The No. 4 Stanford men’s volleyball (10-2, 8-2 MPSF) wraps-up a four-match homestand with No. 10 UC Santa Barbara (10-5, 6-4 MPSF) on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion and No. 3 UCLA (12-2, 8-2 MPSF) on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. in Maples Pavilion.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stat links for both matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Sunday’s match in Maples will be televised live on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Fans will have access to unique behind-the-scenes content on the team this season by liking Stanford Men’s Volleyball on Facebook or following the team on Twitter (@StanfordMVB) and Instagram (@therealstanfordmvb).
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA: The Gauchos enter the week with a 10-5 overall record and a 6-4 mark in the MPSF. As a team, UCSB ranks in the top half of the league in aces (3rd), kills (5th), assists (6th) and blocks (6th). Redshirt junior opposite Matt Marsh paces the squad and is seventh in the MPSF with 3.60 kills per set. Redshirt junior outside hitter Jacob Delson adds 2.98 kills and 1.15 digs per set. Senior setter Jonah Seif controls the offense and ranks third in the conference with 10.36 assists per set.
SCOUTING UCLA: UCLA (12-2, 8-2 MPSF) and Stanford, along with Long Beach State, enter the week in a tie for first place in the MPSF. The Bruins lead the league in aces (1.89) and rank third in blocks (2.69) and opponent hitting percentage (.223). UCLA runs a 6-2 offense with junior setter Hagen Smith (5.80 aps) and freshman Micah Ma’a (5.69 aps). Sophomore outside hitter Jake Arnitz leads the team with 3.04 kills and 3.61 points per set, while junior middle blocker Mitch Stahl is fourth in the MPSF in blocks (1.39) and eighth in hitting percentage (.434).
ROAD WARRIORS: Sanford played eight of its first 10 matches on the road. The Cardinal is 6-2 in its road matches in 2016 compared to a 2-10 mark in matches away from The Farm last season.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford swept the season series against then-No. 4 Hawaii, defeating the Rainbow Warriors 3-0 Friday and 3-1 Saturday. Stanford hit .364 as a team and held Hawaii to a .197 clip. Senior Madison Hayden led the team with 3.43 kills and 4.14 points per set, while senior Conrad Kaminski hit .571 and notched 2.00 blocks per set.
IN THE POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 4 in the top-15 of the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll this week. It marks Stanford’s highest ranking since the 2014 season. The Cardinal is one of 10 MPSF squads ranked in the top 15.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior Madison Hayden nabbed his first career MPSF Player of the Week honors on Feb. 15 for his performances against then-No. 4 Hawaii. The Huntington Beach native notched a team-best 24 kills on .476 hitting in the two matches. He was also second on the squad with 1.71 digs per set.
HOT START: Stanford (10-2) has already matched its win total from a season ago with 12 regular season matches left on the schedule. Currently in a tie for first place in the MPSF, the Cardinal has more conference wins in 2016 (8) than it collected last year (7).
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford leads the MPSF in hitting percentage (.338), is third in kills (13.24) and assists (12.20). The Cardinal is also fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.228) and sixth in aces (1.38).
SENIOR CONTRIBUTIONS: Stanford’s four seniors - Madison Hayden, Conrad Kaminski, James Shaw and Alex Stephanus - account for 55 percent of the team’s kills this season. Hayden leads the way, ranking sixth in the MPSF with 3.76 kills per set and is seventh with 4.30 points per set. Kaminski is fifth in the conference with a .471 attack percentage, while Shaw is second in assists (10.62) and seventh in aces (0.40).
DEFENSIVE-MINDED: As a team, Stanford ranks fourth in the MPSF with 2.62 blocks per set. Senior Conrad Kaminski is second in the MPSF with 1.51 blocks per set, totaling a season-high nine at BYU on Jan. 16 and versus Hawaii on Feb. 13. The Cardinal also ranks fourth with 8.58 digs per set, recording a season-high 50 at IPFW on Jan. 9. Sophomore libero Evan Enriques is second in the conference with 2.56 digs per set.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS: Stanford has two returning All-Americans on its roster in 2016, including middle blocker Conrad Kaminski (two-time AVCA honorable mention) and setter James Shaw (AVCA Second Team in 2014, honorable mention in 2013). Kaminski entered this year hitting .453 for his career and averaging 1.63 kills and 0.97 blocks per set. Shaw, who missed half of last season due to injuries, came into the season posting 10.20 assists per set for his career, while also notching 1.55 digs and 0.93 kills per set.
ALL-CENTURY TEAM: Three former Cardinal players were named to the Pac-12 All-Century Team, including middle blocker Scott Fortune (1985-87, 89), outside hitter Mike Lambert (1993-95, 97) and libero Erik Shoji (2009-12). UCLA’s Karch Kiraly and Al Scates were named the Player and Coach of the Cenutury, respectively.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Setter James Shaw has volleyball in his genes. He is the son of former Stanford volleyball coaching great Don Shaw. His father coached the Stanford women’s team to four NCAA titles in 16 seasons (440-70, .863) and was the Cardinal men’s head coach for seven seasons. He is a member of the AVCA Hall of Fame. Shaw’s sister, Jordan, played at Saint Mary’s and is now on the Gaels’ indoor staff as an assistant coach and is the head coach of their beach volleyball team.
MORE VOLLEYBALL LINEAGE: The mothers of Kyle Dagostino, Evan Enriques and Jordan Ewert all played collegiate volleyball. Lauri Dagostino competed at South Florida, Julie Enriques played at Oregon State and Donna Ewert was a member of the Cal squad. Additionally, Kyle Dagostino’s sister, MacKenzie just finished her career as a setter for the Florida Gators and Evan Enriques’ father, Guy, was the head coach of the women’s volleyball team at Oregon State.
2015 RECAP: After losing five seniors, including three All-Americans, to graduation last season the 2015 Cardinal knew it would be a transition year with several players taking the court in new roles. Couple that with nagging injuries to All-America setter James Shaw, which kept him out more than half the season, and Stanford found itself fighting adversity and searching for its identity throughout the season. With a final record of 10-18 and 7-15 in the MPSF (9th), Stanford missed the postseason for the first time since 2007, head coach John Kosty’s inaugural year at the helm of the program.
FRESH FACES: Freshmen Jordan Ewert (Antioch, Calif.) and Ryan Smith (Aledo, Texas) were named AVCA First Team High School All-Americans. Stanford was one of four teams nationally with two selections to the first team. Russell Dervay (Virginia Beach, Va.), Matt Klassen (Elm Grove, Wis.) and Chris Moore (Lake Mary, Fla.) round out the Cardinal’s freshman class.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: Stanford had several players gain international experience over the summer. Redshirt sophomore Kevin Rakestraw and sophomore Kyle Dagostino were members of the United States’ World University Games roster, which competed in in Gwangju, South Korea in July. Senior Conrad Kaminski nabbed a spot on the U.S. Pan American Team, which played in Toronto, Canada, while freshman Jordan Ewert was a member of the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team. Eweret, who was coached by Cardinal associate head coach Ken Shibuya, finished seventh at the 2015 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in Argentina.
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty is in his 10th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 26th overall on staff. He is 165-111 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 seven of the past eight seasons under Kosty.