No. 9 Stanford (4-0) vs. No. 2 UC Irvine (5-0)
Thursday • 7 p.m. (Maples)
Live Stream • Pac-12.com
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
No. 9 Stanford (4-0) vs. No. 2 UC Irvine (5-0)
Saturday • 7 p.m. (Maples)
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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THIS WEEK: No. 9 Stanford (4-0) continues its eight match homestand this week, playing host to No. 2 UC Irvine (5-0) for a pair of matches Thursday and Saturday at Maples Pavilion. Admission is free to all regular season home matches.
IN THE POLL: Stanford moved up two spots to No. 9 in this week's AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches' Poll, marking its first appearance in the top 10 since it was No. 8 in the 2018 preseason edition. For the 12th consecutive year, the Cardinal was ranked to start the season. Five MPSF squads are ranked in this week's poll.
COACHES POLL: Stanford was picked to finish fourth in the MPSF by the league's coaches prior to the start of the 2019 season. UCLA, which received six first-place votes, was selected to win the MPSF, while BYU collected the remaining first-place vote and came in second and Pepperdine was third.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Setter Paul Bischoff took home MPSF Defensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 2.00 digs and 1.00 blocks per set in a pair of wins over No. 14 Ball State and No. 7 Ohio State last week. Bischoff had a match-high nine digs and four blocks in the upset over the Buckeyes.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks in the top 10 nationally in hitting percentage (4th - .403), aces per set (4th - 2.38) and blocks per set (9th -2.23). Individually, sophomore opposite Jaylen Jasper is 11th in points per set (4.38), 17th in kills per set (3.62) and 25th in hitting percentage (.386), while sophomore middle blocker Kyler Presho is 12th in blocks per set (1.15).
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Sophomore middle blocker Kyler Presho is the son of UC Irvine assistant coach Mark Presho. The elder Presho is in his 15th season with the Anteaters and has been on the sidelines for all four of UCI's national championships. An All-American at Hawai'i, Mark went on to play on the national team and then had a successful beach volleyball career.
OFF THE BLOCK PRESEASON RECOGNITION: Sophomore Jaylen Jasper landed on the Off The Block/Springbak Preseason All-America second team. Libero Kyle Dagostino received votes, which were collected from coaches around the nation. Additionally, several Cardinal were named to preseason watch lists:
Paul Bischoff, Jr. (Lloy Ball Award - best setter)
Jaylen Jasper, So. (Bryan Ivie Award - best opposite)
Jordan Ewert, Sr. (Karch Kiraly Award - best outside hitter)
Kyler Presho, So. (Ryan Millar Award - best middle blocker)
Kyle Dagostino, RS Sr. (Erik Shoji Award - best libero)
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Jaylen Jasper was named the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career on Jan. 8. The opposite hit .654 and averaged 3.17 kills, 0.67 aces and 4.33 kills per set in a pair of sweeps over Menlo College and UC Santa Cruz. He hit a career-high .733 against the Oaks - the highest by an MPSF player during the opening week of play.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE: Kyle Dagostino represented the U.S. in its seventh-place finish at the Pan American Cup in Mexico over the summer. Jaylen Jasper, Kyler Presho and JP Reilly all competed on the U.S. Junior National Team, which took fourth at the NORCECA U21 Continental Championship in Cuba. Freshman Justin Lui, who hails from Pickering, Ontario, played for Canada at the U21 Continental Championship.
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty enters his 13th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 29th overall on staff in 2019. He is now 195-148 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 11 seasons under Kosty. Stanford has appeared in the MPSF Tournament in 10 of Kosty's 12 seasons (missing out in 2007 and 2015).