THIS WEEK: The No. 4 Stanford men’s volleyball team (17-3, 15-3) wraps-up a four-match homestand against No. 10 CSUN (13-12, 6-12 MPSF) on Wednesday, March 30 and versus No. 5 Long Beach State (20-5, 14-4 MPSF) on Saturday, April 2. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.
SENIOR NIGHT: Saturday's match marks the last regular season home match for the Cardinal in 2016. Stanford will recognize its four seniors - Madison Hayden, Conrad Kaminski, James Shaw and Alex Stephanus - with a ceremony following the match against Long Beach State.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for both matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Wednesday’s match will be televised live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area, while Saturday’s match will be live streamed via pac-12.com.
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 CSUN: CSUN enters the week in the eighth and final MPSF playoff spot at 6-12. The Matadors are led by junior outside hitter Jakub Ciesla, who is seventh in the MPSF in kills (3.39) and 11th in points (3.86). Freshman outside hitter Dimitar Kalchev adds 3.03 kills and ranks second in the conference in aces (0.49), while freshman setter Sam Porter controls the offense with 9.90 assists per set. Stanford swept CSUN in the first meeting this season (Feb. 6), hitting .342 as a team and collecting 9.0 blocks. Gabriel Vega paced the Cardinal with 13 kills and three blocks, while Madison Hayden added 10 kills and three digs.
SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE: After a 12-match winning streak that began on Jan. 29, Long Beach State has lost three of its past six matches to fall to fourth place in the MPSF at 14-4. The 49ers are led by freshman outside hitter TJ DeFalco, who is second in the MPSF with 4.19 kills and 4.96 points per set, and fourth with 0.39 aces per set. Freshman setter Josh Tuaniga paces the conference with 11.03 assists, while senior middle blocker Taylor Gregory and junior middle blocker Bryce Yould are 1-2 in the league in hitting percentage at .535 and .481, respectively. LBSU defeated Stanford on Feb. 5 at the Pyramid. Gabriel Vega and Madison Hayden each notched 17 kills to lead the Cardinal, while DeFalco and Kyle Ensing paced the 49ers with 14 kills apiece. It was one of the four matches this season in which the Cardinal was out-hit by its opponent.
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 picked up two wins last week to remain in a tie for first place in the MPSF standings. The Cardinal posted its second-highest block total of the season (14.0) in a four-set win over USC. Senior Conrad Kaminski turned in his first career double-double with 11 kills and a seson-best 10 blocks. Stanford followed up with a sweep over then-No. 15 Cal Baptist. Senior setter James Shaw finished with a double-double (20 assists, 10 digs), while senior Madison Hayden led the offense with eight kills (.333).
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, capturing one first-place vote. The Cardinal is one of nine MPSF squads ranked in the top 15.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Stanford (17-3) has long surpassed its win total from a season ago (10) with four regular season matches left on the schedule. Currently in a three-way tie for first place in the MPSF, the Cardinal has clinched an MPSF postseason berth in February.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks second in the MPSF in hitting percentage (.340) and aces (1.58). The Cardinal is also fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.229) and sixth in assists (11.86) and kills (12.84).
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 3.43 kills per set and fifth with 4.05 points per set. Kaminski is third in the conference with a .480 attack percentage, while Shaw is foruth in assists (10.03) and fifth in aces (0.38).
UNDEFEATED IN THE FIRST: Stanford has won all 20 of its opening sets this season. The Cardinal is 11-1 when winning the first two sets of the match, and 13-1 when hitting above .300.
DEFENSIVE-MINDED: As a team, Stanford ranks second in the MPSF with 8.86 digs per set, recording a season-high 50 at IPFW on Jan. 9. Sophomore libero Evan Enriques leads the conference with 2.57 digs per set. The Cardinal also ranks third 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.
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.
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 172-112 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.