STANFORD, Calif. - No. 14 Stanford (11-14, 8-6 MPSF) received the No. 4 seed for the 2026 MPSF Championship tournament, being held April 22-25 at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The Cardinal opens against No. 5 seed and host BYU (20-11, 7-7 MPSF) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. PT on B1G+.
STANFORD VS. BYU: The Cardinal defeated the Cougars twice this season at Maples Pavilion and has won three in a row over BYU dating back to last season’s MPSF Championship quarterfinal in Malibu. Stanford hit a combined .324 against BYU this season, tallying 1.89 aces and 2.56 blocks per set. Moses Wagner led the team with 4.56 kills on .392 hitting, 1.22 digs, 1.00 blocks and 5.33 points per set.
ALL-MPSF: Opposite Moses Wagner was named to the All-MPSF second team for a second straight year, while setter Jacob Little-Phillips landed on the MPSF All-Freshman Team. Stanford now has 118 all-conference selections all-time.
2025 MPSF TOURNAMENT LOOKBACK: Last season, the Cardinal advanced to the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament for a fourth straight season - its first time doing so in program history. Opposite Moses Wagner was named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team, averaging 3.77 kills on .305 hitting, 0.92 blocks and 4.50 point per set in three postseason matches.
2026 MPSF STAT LEADERS: As a team, Stanford is fourth in the MPSF with 2.19 blocks per set, and fifth with 7.78 digs per set and a .279 hitting percentage. The Cardinal is sixth in kills (11.27), assists (10.61) and aces (1.26).
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (MPSF)
Kills per set: Wagner - 5th (3.35)
Assists per set: Little-Phillips - 7th (7.93)
Blocks per set: Carreira - 5th (0.99); McFall - 9th (0.87)
Digs per set: Porter - 1st (2.16)
Points per set: Wagner - 5th (4.02)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Three Cardinal have combined for four MPSF weekly honors this season. Opposite Moses Wagner has been recognized by the conference for the third and fourth times, while Alex Rottman and Evan Porter earned their first career honors. Additionally, Wagner was tabbed the AVCA National Player of the Week on March 17.
2026 MPSF Weekly Selections
Feb. 2: Alex Rottman (Defensive)
Feb. 23: Moses Wagner (Defensive)
March 16: Moses Wagner (Offensive); Evan Porter (Defensive)
WELCOME BACK: After spending eight seasons as the volunteer assistant with the Cardinal (2017-24), Matt Houlihan is back on The Farm as the interim Al Roderigues Assistant Coach. He replaces Spencer Wickens, who recently left the program for an assistant women’s volleyball coaching position at the University of Minnesota.
COACHES POLL: Stanford was picked to finish fourth in the MPSF by the league’s coaches. UCLA, which received four first-place votes, was selected to win the MPSF regular season title for a fifth straight year. Pepperdine and USC tied for second, garnering four and two first-place votes, respectively.
INCOMING CLASS: In November, Stanford signed four high school standouts to join the Cardinal in the fall of 2026. The group consists of Peter Debiec (Cary, N.C.), Declan Flanagan (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Aleksey Mikhailenko (Mequon, Wis.) and Lincoln Myers (Madison, Wis.).
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty completed his 19th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 35th overall on staff in 2025. He is now 284-252 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 19 seasons under Kosty. Stanford has appeared in the MPSF Tournament in 16 of Kosty’s 19 seasons (missing out in 2007 and 2015. The tournament was canceled in 2020).