April 9, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
This Week's Action:
Friday, April 12 .... at USC (5-21) .... USC North Gym, 7 p.m.
Saturday, April 13 .... at No. 1 Pepperdine (23-4) .... Firestone Fieldhouse, 7 p.m.
Cardinal Update...
Stanford, having won 10 of its last 12 matches, concludes its regular season schedule at USC and Pepperdine this weekend. The Cardinal will meet the Trojans on Friday at the USC North Gym and battle the Waves at Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday. Both Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches are set to begin at 7 p.m. Stanford stands at 15-8 overall and 14-6 in conference play. The top eight teams in the MPSF will qualify for the conference tournament, with the top four schools hosting first round matches on April 20. The Cardinal are currently in fifth place, fighting for the right to host a first round match. At the conclusion of the first round, the top remaining seed will host the semifinal and championship matches on April 25 and 27. The Tournament winner will earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Championships on May 2-4 at Penn's States Recreation Hall.
The Rankings...
Stanford stayed at the No. 7 spot in the April 9th USA Today/AVCA Poll after earning a win over UC Irvine. Pepperdine holds the top spot, followed by Hawai'i, UCLA, BYU and Penn State, who round out the top-five. The MPSF Conference holds ten of the 15 available spots.
Scouting The Trojans...
USC stands at 5-21 and 2-18 in the MPSF after dropping its last 10 matches. The Trojans are coming off a 3-0 loss at Santa Barbara and 3-1 loss at Northridge. Brook Billings leads the Trojans with 386 kills, a 4.39 kill per game average and 127 digs. Miles McGann and J.T. Gilmour have split the setting duties and combine for 1043 of USC's 1121 assists.
Scouting Pepperdine...
The Waves are the top team in the country right now and have won their last 11 matches, including a 3-2 victory at Santa Barbara last weekend. Pepperdine has three athletes in Sean Rooney (401), Fred Winters (340) and Lance Walker (312) who are averaging more than 3.20 kills per game. Setter Beau Daniels is averaging a team-leading 13.92 assists per game. As a team Pepperdine has dominating the net, outblocking opponents 352-182.
Last Time Out...
Stanford came back after losing game one to take a 3-1 (27-30, 30-27, 30-21, 30-26) victory over No. 13 UC Irvine last Friday night. The Cardinal, playing their final home regular season match, got 23 kills from Curt Toppel and 16 from Marcus Skacel in Stanford's third consecutive MPSF win. Seth Ring tied a career-high with 14 digs, while Paul Bocage recorded 13 kills and seven blocks.
Stanford Tries To Complete The Sweep...
The Cardinal swept USC 3-0 (30-22, 30-25, 30-27) on February 24 in the team's first meeting in Maples Pavilion. Curt Toppel recorded a match-high 16 kills, followed by six each from Paul Bocage and Marcus Skacel. Two days prior, Stanford was ousted in five games (25-30, 30-24, 34-32, 23-30, 15-13) by top-ranked Pepperdine despite a match-high 31 kills from Toppel. Bocage followed with a season-high 20 kills and Seth Ring added 14 digs. Setter Kevin Hansen dished out a career-high 76 assists against the Waves.
Toppel That...
Junior opposite hitter Curt Toppel has had a tremendous 2002 season thus far. The Pacific Palisades, Calif., native has led the Cardinal attack in 19 of the 23 Stanford matches, including a season-high 34 kills at Long Beach State on Friday, a 32-kill effort at BYU on Jan. 12 and recorded 31 kills against Pepperdine on Feb. 22. For the year, Toppel has recorded 446 kills and is hitting a .368 clip. He is also averaging 5.37 kills per game, posting double-kill figures in 21 matches. In MPSF matches, Toppel is third in the conference averaging 5.39 kills per game.
Set Me Up...
Redshirt freshman Kevin Hansen has made the most of his first year as Stanford's starting setter. Hansen has dished out 1133 assists, good for a 13.65 assists per game average. Against Pepperdine on Feb. 22, Hansen dished out a career-high 76 assists and vs. Hawai'i on Jan. 29 he recorded 73. He is fourth in conference with a 13.78 assist average. Hansen was named Molten MPSF Player of the Week on Feb. 19th for his efforts against Pacific and UCLA. The Newport Beach, Calif., native set Stanford to a .316 hitting percentage against the Bruins and .333 clip against the Tigers.
Playing Tough "D"...
Paul Bocage and Seth Ring are leading the Cardinal defense in 2002. In 72 games, Bocage is averaging 1.11 blocks per game and has a team-high 80 total blocks. Ring has recorded 139 digs this season, averaging a team-leading 1.96 per game in 71 games.
Rankings From The MPSF...
Despite its 14-6 conference mark, Stanford is ranked second among the MPSF schools for team kill average and hitting percentage . The Cardinal are averaging 16.67 kills per game in conference play and hitting a .362 clip. Stanford also leads the conference in assists, average with 15.69.
Don Shaw Named Head Coach...
On June 22 Don Shaw, who established himself as one of the top coaches in collegiate volleyball history during his illustrious 16-year tenure as Stanford's women's head volleyball coach, was named Stanford's men's volleyball coach. Shaw captured four NCAA Championships and eight Pacific-10 Conference Championships with the Stanford women. He also holds the top winning percentage in women's college volleyball history with his 440-70 (.863) record. As a player, Shaw was a member of the United States National Team and was one of the top beach players in the country during his playing career.