THIS WEEK: The third-ranked Stanford men’s volleyball team (19-3, 17-3) concludes regular-season play this week on the road at No. 4 UCLA (21-5, 15-5) on Thursday, April 7 and at No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (17-9, 12-8) on Saturday, April 9.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for both matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Thursday’s match will be televised live on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles, while Saturday’s match will be live streamed.
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 UCLA: UCLA (21-5, 15-5) enters the week in a tie for third place in the MPSF with Long Beach State. The Bruins lead the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.215) and aces (1.85), and rank third in kills (13.07) and digs (8.70). Sophomore outside hitter Jake Arnitz paces the squad with 3.21 kills and 1.21 digs per set, while sophomore JT Hatch adds 2.66 kills an 0.40 aces per set. UCLA runs a 6-2 offense with freshman Micah Ma’a, who leads the MPSF in aces (0.53), and junior Hagen Smith. Stanford defeated UCLA in four sets on Feb. 21, hitting .400 as a team with 9.0 blocks. Redshirt junior Gabriel Vega totaled 14 kills, eight digs and five blocks to lead the Cardinal.
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA: The Gauchos (17-9, 12-8) are in a tie for fifth place in the MPSF with Pepperdine going into the final week of play. Redshirt junior outside hitter Jacob Delson leads the team and ranks seventh in the MPSF with 3.79 points and ninth with 3.29 kills per set. Redshirt junior opposite Matt Marsh adds 3.93 points and 3.23 kills per set, while senior setter Jonah Seif controls the offense with 10.23 assists per set. Stanford swept UCSB earlier this season, hitting a season-high .526 as a team. Sophomore libero Evan Enriques collected 12 digs in the win, while Madison Hayden led the team with 14 kills (.667).
ROAD WARRIORS: Sanford played eight of its first 10 matches on the road this year. The Cardinal is 9-2 in its road matches in 2016 compared to a 2-10 mark in matches away from The Farm last season.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford posted four-set wins over No. 10 CSUN and No. 5 Long Beach State to remain in a tie atop the MPSF standings. Seniors Madison Hayden (20 kills, 11 digs) and Conrad Kaminski (12 kills, 10 blocks) both turned in their second double-doubles of the season against the Matadors. Hayden, Kaminski and freshman Jordan Ewert registered 38 of the team’s 58 kills against the 49ers. As a team, Stanford hit .372 in the two matches as setter James Shaw averaged 12.75 assists per set.
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, capturing three first-place votes. The Cardinal is one of 10 MPSF squads ranked in the top 15.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Stanford (19-3) has long surpassed its win total from a season ago (10) with two regular season matches left on the schedule. Currently in a tie for first place in the MPSF, the Cardinal clinched an MPSF postseason berth back in February and will host a quarterfinal match on April 16.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks second in the MPSF in hitting percentage (.344), kills (13.10) and aces (1.53). The Cardinal is also fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.231) and fifth in assists (12.12).
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 3.53 kills and 4.12 points per set. Kaminski is third in the conference with a .491 attack percentage, while Shaw is third in assists (10.30) and sixth in aces (0.38).
UNDEFEATED IN THE FIRST: Stanford has 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 8.95 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 (2.83). Senior Conrad Kaminski is third in the MPSF with 1.53 blocks per set, totaling a season-high 10 versus USC on March 24 and against CSUN on March 30.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior setter James Shaw collected his second career Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week honor on April 5 after leading the Cardinal to wins over No. 10 CSUN and No. 5 Long Beach State. He averaged 12.75 assists and hit .688 (11-0-16) in the two matches, tying his season high in assists against CSUN (54).
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.
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. Ewert, who was coached by Cardinal associate head coach Ken Shibuya, finished seventh at the 2015 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship in Argentina.
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 174-112 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.