STANFORD, Calif. - No. 11 Stanford (7-8, 0-2 MPSF) plays host to No. 9 Pepperdine (10-4, 2-0 MPSF) in its MPSF home openers. The Cardinal and Waves square 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 dropped its MPSF openers at No. 2 UCLA, falling in four sets on Thursday and three on Friday. The Cardinal was held to a combined .161 hitting in the two matches. Outside hitter Theo Snoey led the team with 3.43 kills on .237 hitting, 0.57 aces, 1.00 digs and 4.21 points per set. Middle blocker Luke McFall hit .650 with 13 kills on 20 errorless swings 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, and his first Defensive Player of the Week award on Feb. 24. 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. Theo Snoey also collected his first career weekly honor after the team split a pair of matches at No. 4 Hawaii.
2025 MPSF Weekly Selections
Jan. 13: Moses Wagner (Offensive)
Jan. 20: Evan Porter (Defensive)
Feb. 10: Theo Snoey (Offensive)
Feb. 24: Moses Wagner (Defensive)
2025 MPSF STAT LEADERS: As a team, Stanford ranks fourth in the MPSF with 8.40 digs per set, and fifth in kills per set (11.84) and assists per set (11.11). The Cardinal is sixth in hitting percentage (.270) and seventh in aces (1.45) and blocks (1.89).
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (MPSF)
Kills per set: Snoey - 3rd (3.87); Wagner - 7th (3.37)
Assists per set: Brouillette - 2nd (10.12)
Service Aces per set: Snoey - 7th (0.42)
Blocks per set: Wainwright - 10th (0.93)
Digs per set: Porter - 3rd (1.82)
Points per set: Snoey - 4th (4.48); Wagner - 7th (4.12)
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.
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 267-231 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).