BYU for Two

THIS WEEK: Stanford (3-11, 1-2 MPSF) plays its first match on The Farm in over a month on Wednesday, hosting No. 6 BYU (10-4, 3-0 MPSF) at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal and Cougars will also meet on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT in Provo.

ABOUT BYU: BYU enters the week ranked No. 6 in the AVCA poll and has started MPSF play 3-0. The Cougars are hitting .313 as a team and lead the nation with 2.82 blocks per set. Freshman opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 3.64 kills per set and is second in the MPSF with 4.47 points per set. Senior Price Jarman is second in the league and sixth nationally with 1.23 blocks per set. 

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford picked up its first MPSF win last week, knocking off No. 10 Grand Canyon on the road. The Cardinal hit a season-best .489 led by freshman opposite Jaylen Jasper (20 kills, .633 hitting). Stanford also had season-highs in aces (8) and blocks (9.0). 

DEFENSIVE HONOR: Senior Evan Enriques was voted the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Jan. 15 for his efforts at Ohio State and Ball State. The libero averaged 3.14 digs per set and did not commit a reception error in the two matches. He tied his season-high with 15 digs against the Buckeyes and followed up with seven digs and a season-best six assists versus the Cardinals.
 

Well-deserved honor for senior Evan Enriques ?? #GoStanfordhttps://t.co/1RVr0Q7BAw

— Stanford Men's Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) January 16, 2018

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks 17th as a team nationally with 12.04 kills per set and 21st with a .247 team hitting percentage. Individually, redshirt senior Kevin Rakestraw is 15th with a .395 attack percentage, while senior Evan Enriques is 19th with 2.26 digs per set.

WHO'S IN?: With injuries and a young roster, Stanford has struggled to find a consistent lineup. The Cardinal has utilized eight different starting lineups in its first 14 matches. Freshman middle blocker Kyler Presho is the only Cardinal to start all 14 matches at the same position this season.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Senior libero Evan Enriques is one of four in his immediate family to currently be playing collegiate men's volleyball. His younger brother, Emmett, is a junior libero at CSUN, while twins Addison and Avery are freshmen at Concordia and Grand Canyon, respectively.
 

Volleyball Is All In The Family for Enriques Brothers @StanfordMVB @CSUNMensVB @CUIeagles @GCU_MVolleyball https://t.co/0Bap4KB384 pic.twitter.com/kj3jsy1Dkr

— VolleyMob (@VolleyMob) February 14, 2018

COACHES POLL: Stanford, along with Pepperdine, was picked to finish third in the MPSF by the league's coaches. BYU, which received four first-place votes, was picked to win the MPSF for the third straight season, while UCLA collected two first-place votes and came in second.

NEW-LOOK MPSF: Each MPSF team will play 12 conference matches this season, featuring a home and away against each opponent. The 2018 MPSF Tournament begins with seed two, three and four hosting a quarterfinal match on April 14. The conference semifinals will be played on April 19 at the No. 1 seed. Semifinal winners will meet on April 21 for the championship with an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on the line.

NEWCOMERS: Freshmen JP Reilly (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Leo Henken (Webster Grove, Mo.) were named AVCA First and Second Team High School All-Americans, respectively. Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, Md.), whose high school did not offer boys' volleyball, was the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2017, as voted on for VolleyballMag.com, while Kyler Presho (San Clemente, Calif.) rounds out the Cardinal's freshman class.

2017 RECAP: Stanford finished the 2017 campaign 13-13 overall and  8-10 in the MPSF. After being picked to finish seventh by the MPSF coaches, Stanford tied for sixth and secured its ninth postseason appearance under head coach John Kosty. The Cardinal produced four all-conference selections and two AVCA All-Americans.

HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty is in his 12th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 28th overall on staff. He is 190-139 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 10 seasons under Kosty. Stanford has appeared in the MPSF Tournament in nine of Kosty's 11 seasons (missing out in 2007 and 2015).