THIS WEEK: Fifth-ranked Stanford (19-5, 17-5 MPSF) opens the MPSF tournament at home, hosting sixth-ranked UC Santa Barba (19-9, 14-8 MPSF) on Saturday, April 16 at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stat and live stream links for the match can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com.
TICKETS: Tickets are available in-person or online at gostanford.com/tickets for Saturday’s match. All seating will be general admission - $10 adults; $5 seniors/youth. The first 100 Stanford students will receive free admission.
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: UC Santa Barbara (19-9, 14-8 MPSF) is a veteran squad led by senior setter Jonah Seif, who has guided the offense to a .293 team attack percentage. Seif is third in the MPSF with 10.35 assists per set, 10th in aces (0.35) and 15th in digs (1.75). Redshirt junior Jacob Delson paces the squad with 3.29 kills, ranking seventh in the MPSF, while redshirt junior opposite Matt Marsh adds 3.27 kills and 0.40 aces per set. Stanford and UCSB split the season series, each winning on its home court.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Stanford and UCSB are meeting for just the third time in the postseason. The Gauchos won the most recent meeting in the 1996 MPSF Tournament by a 3-1 margin. The Cardinal won the initial meeting back in 1990 in the WIVA Tournament, 3-1.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford dropped its final two regular season matches on the road last week, falling 3-0 at UCLA and 3-1 at UC Santa Barbara. The losses dropped the Cardinal out of first place in the MPSF and into a three-way tie for second. Stanford received the No. 4 seed in the MPSF Tournament due to tiebreaker rules against UCLA (No. 2) and Long Beach State (No. 3).
IN THE POLL: Stanford fell to No. 5 in the top-15 of the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll this week, its lowest ranking since Feb. 8. The Cardinal is one of 10 MPSF squads ranked in the top 15.
ROAD WARRIORS: Sanford played eight of its first 10 matches on the road this year. The Cardinal is 9-4 in its road matches in 2016 compared to a 2-10 mark in matches away from The Farm last season.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Stanford (19-5) has long surpassed its win total from a season ago (10). After missing the postseason in 2015, the Cardinal clinched an MPSF playoff berth back in February and will host a quarterfinal match at Maples Pavilion for the second time in the past three seasons.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks second in the MPSF in hitting percentage (.334) and aces (148). The Cardinal is also third in kills (13.02), fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.241) and fifth in assists (12.05).
SENIOR CONTRIBUTIONS: Stanford’s four seniors - Madison Hayden, Conrad Kaminski, James Shaw and Alex Stephanus - account for 54 percent of the team’s kills this season. Hayden leads the way, ranking fifth in the MPSF with 3.44 kills and 3.99 points per set. Kaminski is third in the conference with a .487 attack percentage, while Shaw is fifth in assists (10.06) and eighth in aces (0.36).
OPENING SETS: Prior to last week, Stanford had won all 22 of its opening sets this season. The Cardinal is 11-1 when winning the first two sets of the match, and 15-1 when hitting above .300.
DEFENSIVE-MINDED: As a team, Stanford ranks second in the MPSF with 9.11 digs per set, recording a season-high 50 at IPFW on Jan. 9. Sophomore libero Evan Enriques leads the conference with 2.59 digs per set. The Cardinal also ranks second in blocks per set as a team (2.76). Senior Conrad Kaminski is second in the MPSF with 1.49 blocks per set, totaling a season-high 10 versus USC on March 24 and against CSUN on March 30.
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 his senior 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.
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.
ALUMS OVERSEAS: Stanford currently has five alums playing professionally in Europe:
Brian Cook (‘14): Tonazzo Padova (Italy)
Steven Irvin (‘14): Abiant Lycurgus GRONINGEN (Netherlands)
Eric Mochalski (‘14): ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (Slovenia)
Eric Shoji (‘12): Berlin Recycling Volleys (Germany)
Kawika Shoji (‘10): Arkas Izmir (Turkey)
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 174-114 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.