THIS WEEK: The third-ranked Stanford men’s volleyball team (12-2, 10-2) hits the road this week to travel to UC San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 25 and No. 13 UC Irvine on Friday, Feb. 26. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. PT.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stat links for both matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Thursday’s match at UC San Diego will be live streamed for a fee.
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 SAN DIEGO: UC San Diego is coming off a nonconference win over Holy Names (3-0) last Saturday, while it is still searching for its first MPSF victory. The Tritons are fourth in the conference in digs (8.47), led by libero Tanner Howard’s team-best 1.85 digs per set. Sophomore setter Milosh Stojcic controls the offense with 8.39 assists per set, while junior outside hitter Ian Colbert leads the team with 2.72 kills and 1.80 digs per set. Stanford swept UCSD in its meeting on Jan. 22 in Burnham Pavilion.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE: UC Irvine (4-10, 3-9 MPSF) enters the week tied for ninth in the MPSF after dropping matches to CSUN and top-ranked Long Beach State last week. Junior opposite Tamir Hershko leads the team and ranks third in the MPSF with 4.07 kills and 2.17 digs per set. He also notches 4.42 points per set, the fourth-most in the league. Senior outside hitter Kyle Russell adds 3.19 kills, 0.46 aces and 3.89 points per set, while senior middle blocker Jason Agopian is hitting .435 and averages 2.07 kills per set. Stanford defeated UCI, 3-1, on Jan. 23 in Burnham Pavilion.
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 increased its winning streak to a season-best five matches, its most since the 2014 campaign, with wins over then-No. 10 UC Santa Barbara (3-0) and then-No. 3 UCLA (3-1). Redshirt junior Gabriel Vega led the team with 3.71 kills, 4.71 points and 1.14 blocks per set, while hitting .488 in the two matches. As a team, Stanford hit a season-best .526 in the sweep over the Gauchos, and it marked the Cardinal’s first regular season MPSF win over the Bruins since 2013.
IN THE POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 3 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.
VEGA RECOGNIZED: Redshirt junior Gabriel Vega nabbed AVCA and MPSF Player of the Week honors after his performances against UC Santa Barbara and UCLA last week. The Kailua, Hawaii native hit .625 against the Gauchos and was one of two Cardinal with double-digit kills (12). Against the Bruins, the opposite paced the team with 14 kills, eight digs and a career-high five blocks.
HOT START: Stanford (12-2) has already surpassed its win total from a season ago with 10 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 (10) than it collected last year (7).
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford leads the MPSF in hitting percentage (.351), is second in kills (13.21) and fourth assists (12.19). The Cardinal is also fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.231) and aces (1.46).
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 fifth in the MPSF with 3.76 kills per set and 4.32 points per set. Kaminski is fifth in the conference with a .467 attack percentage, while Shaw is second in assists (10.50) and sixth in aces (0.40).
DEFENSIVE-MINDED: As a team, Stanford ranks third in the MPSF with 6.63 digs per set, recording a season-high 50 at IPFW on Jan. 9. Sophomore libero Evan Enriques is second in the conference with 2.62 digs per set. The Cardinal also ranks fourth in blocks per set as a team (2.60). Senior Conrad Kaminski is second in the MPSF with 1.44 blocks per set, totaling a season-high nine at BYU on Jan. 16 and versus Hawaii on Feb. 13.
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 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.
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 167-111 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.