THIS WEEK: No. 6 Stanford (8-4, 5-2 MPSF) hits the road this week to travel to USC (3-9, 2-7 MPSF) on Thursday, Feb. 16 and Cal Baptist (3-9, 1-7 MPSF) on Saturday, Feb. 18.
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 streamed on cbulancers.com. All links can be found on GoStanford.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Fans have access to unique behind-the-scenes content on the team by liking Stanford Men's Volleyball on Facebook or following the team on Twitter (@StanfordMVB) and Instagram (@therealstanfordmvb).
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford won a pair of five-set comeback wins last week against then-No. 4 UCLA and No. 12 UC Santa Barbara at Maples Pavilion. The wins put the Cardinal into a tie for third place in the MPSF with Hawaii. Sophomore Jordan Ewert paced the team setting a career-high in kills against UCLA (22) and then surpassing it versus UCSB (26). Redshirt junior Kevin Rakestraw hit .467 in the two matches, averaging 2.60 kills and 0.90 blocks per set. He also had a career-high in kills (19) against the Gauchos.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS: USC enters the week with a 3-9 overall record, picking up MPSF wins over Long Beach State and UC Irvine. The Cardinal swept the Trojans in its first meeting of the season on Jan. 26, led by Kevin Rakestraw's nine kills and six blocks. Senior outside hitter Lucas Yoder paces the nation with 5.00 kills per set and leads the league with 5.28 points per set. Junior Gert Lisha controls the offense with 10.46 assists per set, ranking fourth in the MPSF.
SCOUTING THE LANCERS: Cal Baptist is 2-9 overall and 1-7 in the MPSF with its lone conference win coming over CSUN on Jan. 11. Stanford swept the Lancers on Jan. 27 in Maples Pavilion as Jordan Ewert recorded 12 kills on .318 hitting. Luis Palos leads the Lancers with 2.07 kills and 1.10 digs per set, while Kevin Vaz adds 2.00 kills. Sophomore libero Emmett Enriques is the younger brother of Stanford libero Evan Enriques.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Ewert was selected as the FloVolleyball and MPSF Players of the Week. The Antioch, California native averaged 4.80 klls and 5.05 points per set on .301 hitting against then-No. 4 UCLA and No. 12 UC Santa Barbara last week. He set a career-high in kills against UCLA (22) and then surpassed it versus UCSB (26).
.@sunshine__55 is the MPSF Player of the Week after leading Stanford to five-set wins over UCLA & UCSB » https://t.co/wzwW2o6Vsx
— Men's Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) February 14, 2017
IN THE POLL: Stanford moved up two spots to No. 6 in this week's AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Poll after a pair of five-set come-from-behind wins last week.It marks the highest ranking of the season for Stanford. The Cardinal is one of nine MPSF squads to appear in the top 15.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks in the top 15 nationally in kills (12th - 12.57), blocks (13th - 2.25), assists (14th - 11.67) and aces (15th - 1.31) as a team. Individually, Kevin Rakestraw's .466 hitting percentage is sixth in the nation, while his 1.07 blocks per set is eighth. Sophomore Jordan Ewert's 3.85 kills per set and 4.40 points per set are 13th and 14th nationally, respectively.
FILLING THE VOID: Stanford graduated 55 percent of its offensive output from last season, leaving holes that need to be filled. Jordan Ewert is leading the Cardinal this season with 154 total kills (3.85 kps), while Kevin Rakestraw is second on the team with 100 kills (2.38 kps) as a middle. Redshirt senior Gabriel Vega has tallied 96 kills (2.53 kps) as an outside hitter.
2016 RECAP: Stanford (19-6, 17-5 MPSF) may have surprised some people at the start of the 2016 season, winning seven of its first eight matches (including five on the road). However, with a healthy James Shaw quarterbacking the offense and veteran players in key positions, the Cardinal had high expectations for the season. After being picked to finish eighth by the MPSF coaches, Stanford tied for second in the league and produced five All-MPSF selections, including Shaw being tabbed the Player of the Year. The Cardinal also led the nation in 2016 with three AVCA first-team All-Americans.
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty is in his 11th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 27th overall on staff. He is 182-119 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 eight of the past nine seasons under Kosty.