No. 8 Stanford (9-5, 2-2 MPSF) vs. Grand Canyon (7-8, 0-3 MPSF)
Thursday • 7 p.m. (Maples Pavilion)
Live Stream • Pac-12.com
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
No. 8 Stanford (9-5, 2-2 MPSF) vs. UC San Diego (5-9, 0-3 Big West)
Saturday • 7 p.m. (Maples Pavilion)
Live Stream • Pac-12.com
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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IN THE POLL: Stanford moved up one spot to No. 8 in this week's AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches' Poll. For the 12th consecutive year, the Cardinal was ranked to start the season. Five MPSF squads are ranked in the top 15 of this week's poll.
ABOUT GRAND CANYON: Grand Canyon is 0-3 to start MPSF play, falling most recently to No. 5 Pepperdine in five sets at home. The Lopes are hitting .232 as a team, rank second in conference in blocks (2.33) and are holding opponents to a .229 clip - tops in the MPSF. Freshman Christian Janke leads Grand Canyon and ranks eighth in the conference with 3.41 kills and 3.88 points per set. Middle blockers Caleb Blazer and Alex Shmelev rank first and third in the MPSF with 1.28 and 1.05 blocks per set, respectively. The Cardinal swept the season series with Grand Canyon last year.
ABOUT UC SAN DIEGO: UC San Diego is 5-9 on the season, including an 0-3 start to Big West play. The Tritons are hitting .214 as a team and post 1.92 blocks per set. Sophomore outside hitter Wyatt Harrison paces the team with 2.49 kills and 1.18 digs per set. Sophomore opposite Collin Shannon adds 2.75 kills and 1.33 digs per set. Junior libero Ryan Lew anchors the defense with 2.33 digs per set. Last season, Stanford won both meetings against UC San Diego.
MPSF PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Stanford was four-for-four in the month of January in player of the week recognition from the MPSF, and now has six awards for the season.
Jan. 7 - Jaylen Jasper (Offensive)
Jan. 14 - Paul Bischoff (Defensive)
Jan. 21 - Jordan Ewert (Offensive)
Jan. 28 - Kyle Dagostino (Defensive)
Feb. 18 - Jaylen Jasper (Offensive); Kyle Dagostino (Defensive)
?? Card sweeps MPSF player of the week honors!
— Stanford Men's Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) February 19, 2019
??? » https://t.co/HKzCWyeHCq#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/pOeGk441ox
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks in the top 10 nationally in assists per set (6th, 12.28), kills per set (6th, 13.02) and hitting percentage (10th, .318). Individually, junior Paul Bischoff is fifth nationally in assists per set (10.41), while sophomore Jaylen Jasper is sixth in kills per set (4.12) and eighth in points per set (4.74).
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.
The 'sky is the limit' for aeronautics and astronautics major Paul Bischoff. The junior setter has found his path at @Stanford.#GoStanfordhttps://t.co/2pFZ2ik9vO
— Stanford Men's Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) February 20, 2019
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)
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.
.@JamesWalkerShaw led the U.S. ???? to a 7th-place finish at the Pan Am Cup in Mexico, while Jaylen Jasper was named the 'Best Server' for the Junior National Team in Cuba. #GoStanfordhttps://t.co/R4SjK45QYQ
— Stanford Men's Volleyball (@StanfordMVB) September 3, 2018
2018 RECAP: Stanford finished the 2018 campaign 6-20 overall and 3-9 in the MPSF. The Cardinal did not have one single match where all 18 players on the roster were available. Stanford made its 10th postseason appearance under head coach John Kosty, who completed his 12th season at the helm of the program. The Cardinal produced four all-conference selections and two AVCA All-Americans.
WHO'S IN?: With injuries and a young roster, Stanford struggled to find a consistent lineup in 2018. The Cardinal utilized 12 different starting lineups during the season. Middle blocker Kyler Presho was the only Cardinal to start all 26 matches at the same position last year. In 2019, the Cardinal has used three different starting lineups.
NEW-LOOK MPSF: Last season, each MPSF team played 12 conference matches, featuring a home and away against each opponent. The 2019 MPSF Tournament will begin with seed two, three and four hosting a quarterfinal match on April 13. The conference semifinals will be played at the No. 1 seed. The MPSF Tournament winner will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
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 200-153 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).