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Men's Volleyball

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Stanford (6-19, 3-9 MPSF) at No. 2 UCLA (22-6, 9-3 MPSF) | Saturday • 7 p.m. 
Live Stream • MPSPORTS.org
Live Statistics • UCLABruins.com

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THIS WEEK: After tying USC for sixth place in the MPSF, Stanford (6-19, 3-9 MPSF) is the No. 7 seed in the MPSF Tournament and will travel to No. 2 seed UCLA (22-6, 9-3 MPSF) on Saturday for the first round at Pauley Pavilion.

CATCH THE CARDINAL: Saturday's match will be streamed online for a fee at www.mpsports.org. Live stat and watch links for the match can be found on the men's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. 

ABOUT UCLA: UCLA (22-6) earned the No. 2 seed in the MPSF with wins over the Cardinal and BYU last week. The Bruins are third nationally in hitting percentage (.355) and kills per set (13.19). Sophomore middle blocker Daenan Gyimah, the reigning MPSF Offensive Player of the Week, leads the nation with a .534 hitting percentage and is third in the MPSF with 1.18 blocks per set. Junior setter Micah Ma'a is third nationally with 10.73 assists per set and is second in the MPSF with 0.48 aces per set. The Bruins swept the regular season series against the Cardinal.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford dropped a pair of matches last week at then-No. 5 UCLA and then-No. 4 Pepperdine. Freshman Jaylen Jasper led the team with 3.86 kills and 2.00 digs per set in the two matches. Senior libero Evan Enriques collected a team-best 2.14 digs per set to anchor the defense.

MPSF BREAKDOWN: The final MPSF standings came down to the final day of the regular season. Stanford finished in a tie for sixth place in the MPSF with USC at 3-9. The Cardinal ended up with the No. 7 seed due to its two regular season losses to the Trojans. 

PAIR SWEEPS HONORS: Freshmen Jaylen Jasper and Kyler Presho collected MPSF Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively, for their efforts in wins over Grand Canyon (March 29) and Concordia (March 31). Additionally, Jasper was named the VolleyMob and Sports Imports/AVCA Players of the Week. Jasper averaged 5.11 kills, 0.89 aces and 6.22 points per set, while Presho led the team with 1.44 blocks per set.
 


STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Freshman Jaylen Jasper leads the MPSF with 3.99 kills per set and ranks second with 4.40 points per set during the regular season. Senior libero Evan Enriques was second in the conference with 2.22 digs per set, while Kyler Presho (.416) and Kevin Rakestraw (.389) were fifth and seventh, respectively, in hitting percentage.

WHO'S IN?: With injuries and a young roster, Stanford has struggled to find a consistent lineup. The Cardinal has utilized 11 different starting lineups this season. Freshman middle blocker Kyler Presho is the only Cardinal to start all 25 matches at the same position this year.

IN THE POLL: Stanford entered the 2018 campaign ranked No. 8 in the preseason AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches' Poll. After starting 0-3, Stanford dropped out of the poll for the first time since March 2, 2015. Five MPSF squads are ranked in the top 15.

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.

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.
 


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.

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 193-147 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).