STANFORD, Calif. - No. 9 Stanford (3-1) welcomes No. 2 UC Irvine (5-0) to The Farm for a pair of matches. The Cardinal and Anteaters will face off on Friday at 6 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion and Saturday at 6 p.m. in Maples Pavilion. Both matches will be streamed on B1G+.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford won both its matches at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, Texas, sweeping then-No. 13 Ohio State before defeating No. 14 Penn State in four. Opposite Moses Wagner led the team with 3.14 kills, 1.00 digs, 0.71 aces, 1.43 blocks and 4.64 points per set in the two matches. The Cardinal out hit its opponents .244 to .049 in the two matches.
COACHES POLL: Stanford was picked to finish sixth in the MPSF by the league’s coaches. UCLA, which received eight first-place votes, was selected to win its fourth straight MPSF regular season title. USC came in second, while BYU, which collected the final first-place vote, was third.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Moses Wagner picked up his first career MPSF Offensive Player of the Week honor on Jan. 13 for his efforts in the season openers against No. 5 Ball State. Freshman libero Evan Porter earned the MPSF’s defensive nod after averaging 2.86 digs per set in a pair of top 15 wins at the First Point Collegiate Challenge.
2025 MPSF Weekly Selections
Jan. 13: Moses Wagner (Offensive)
Jan. 20: Evan Porter (Defensive)
2025 MPSF STAT LEADERS: As a team, Stanford leads the MPSF with 11.69 assists per set and ranks second with 9.00 digs per set. The Cardinal is third in kills (12.38) and aces (2.08), fifth in blocks (2.12) and sixth in hitting percentage (.276).
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (MPSF)
Hitting percentage: Clinton - 8th (.425)
Kills per set: Wagner - 1st (4.23); Snoey - 8th (3.23)
Assists per set: Brouillette - 1st (10.69)
Digs per set: Porter - 1st (2.69); Clinton - 5th (1.78); Snoey - 9th (1.62)
Points per set: Wagner - 1st (5.15); Snoey - 9th (3.85)
INCOMING CLASS: In November, Stanford signed four high school standouts to join the Cardinal next fall. The group consists of Erik Ask (Västerås, Sweden), Jacob Little-Phillips (Winter Park, Fla.), Jack Loper (San Clemente, Calif.) and Luke Morrison (Irvine, Calif.).
LEGACY CEMENTED: Matt Fuerbringer (‘97) was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in October. He becomes the fifth men’s volleyball player to receive the prestigious honor. A member of the 1997 NCAA championship team, he was the AVCA National Freshman of the Year in 1994 and a four-time All-American. He was an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team, helping lead the Americans to bronze medals in 2016 and 2024. Fuerbringer now serves as the head coach of League One Volleyball (LOVB) Madison, a U.S. women’s professional team beginning its inaugural season this month.
2024 IN REVIEW: In his 18th season at the helm of the program, The Birkhofer Family Head Men’s Volleyball Coach John Kosty guided the Cardinal to a 14-12 overall record and a 6-6 mark in the MPSF (4th). The Cardinal advanced to the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament for a third straight season - its first time doing so in program history. Outside hitter Will Rottman was named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team for a third time. The fifth year averaged 4.71 kills on .356 hitting, 0.43 aces, 3.00 digs and 5.36 points per set to lead Stanford in the postseason. The Cardinal finished the season ranked No. 6 in the AVCA poll - marking its highest final ranking since 2016.
ACADEMIC HONORS: Stanford was the only Division I institution in the nation to have each of its programs (men’s, women’s and beach) earn the AVCA Team Academic Award in 2024. The men’s team has now earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for five consecutive seasons, and for the 13th time in program history. Stanford led the conference with 11 student-athletes selected to the MPSF All-Academic Team, while 12 Cardinal landed on the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll.
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty completed his 18th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 34th overall on staff in 2024. He is now 263-224 in his career. He 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 nine of the 18 seasons under Kosty. Stanford has appeared in the MPSF Tournament in 15 of Kosty’s 18 seasons (missing out in 2007 and 2015. The tournament was canceled in 2020).