THIS WEEK: No. 8 Stanford (11-7, 6-5 MPSF) remains on the road this week for a pair of MPSF matches at No. 4 Hawai'i (18-2, 8-2 MPSP) on March 10-11 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for both matches can be found on the men's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Both matches will also be live streamed through Hawai'i All-Access via hawaiiathletics.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 matches on the east coast last week, defeating Lees-McRae out of the Conference Carolinas (3-1) and then-No. 15 Penn State at Rec Hall (3-0). Redshirt junior Clay Jones averaged 3.33 kills, 1.33 digs, 1.00 blocks and 4.00 points per set in the two matches. The opposite hit a career-high .556 with a season-best 12 kills on Saturday against the Nittany Lions.
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WARRIORS: Hawai'i, which is ranked fourth nationally, is on a 13-match winning streak and hasn't lost a set since Feb. 4. The Rainbow Warriors are 13-0 at home this season. Hawai'i is third in the MPSF with a .336 team hitting percentage and ranks tops in the league in blocks (2.70), digs (9.35) and opponent hitting percentage (.191). Sophomore Stijn van Tilburg leads the team and ranks fourth in the MPSF with 4.43 kills and 4.96 points per set, while hitting .407. Sophomore Larry Tuileta is second in the conference with 2.32 digs per set, while redshirt freshman Patrick Gasman is fifth with 1.07 blocks per set.
IN THE POLL: Stanford remained at No. 8 in this week's AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Poll after recording a pair of wins on the east coast last week. The Cardinal is one of 10 MPSF squads to appear in the top 15.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks 16th nationally with 8.78 digs per set, while also appearing in the top 20 as a team in kills (12.22), assists (11.42) and blocks (2.20) per set. Individually, Kevin Rakestraw's .429 hitting percentage is seventh in the nation, while junior Evan Enriques is 15th with 2.32 digs per set. Sophomore Jordan Ewert's 3.60 kills per set and 4.15 points per set are 16th and 17th 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 198 total kills (3.60 kps), while redshirt senior Gabriel Vega has tallied 156 kills (2.69 kps). Kevin Rakestraw is third on the team with 133 kills (2.15 kps) as a middle.
TOP-RANKED CLASS: Freshmen Eric Beatty (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Paul Bischoff (Wheaton, Ill.) were named AVCA First Team High School All-Americans. Stanford was one of three teams nationally with two selections to the first team. Jacob Thoenen (St. Charles, Mo.) and Eli Wopat (Santa Barbara, Calif.) earned second team honors, while Stephen Moye (El Segundo, Calif.) and Mason Tufuga (Costa Mesa, Calif.) round out the Cardinal's freshman class, which was rated No. 1 in the nation by VolleyballMag.com.
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 185-122 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.
