Complete Release in PDF Format <="">April 17, 2009
STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 4 Stanford men's volleyball team heads into the final weekend of the regular season seeking advantageous positioning for the upcoming Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. Stanford, which has won 12 of its past 14 matches, can end up with any seed from Nos. 3-6. A season goal has been to finish among the top four in conference play and earn homecourt for the first round of the eight-team event, which would be played April 25. Victories against No. 1 UC Irvine (22-4, 17-3), on Friday, and No. 9 UCLA (13-14, 9-11), on Saturday, would ensure such a result. A loss in either match would require help from Hawai'i in its pair against visiting USC.
On the Internet
Live video streaming and live stats are available for both matches. The free webcasts can be found on gostanford.com. The "Watch" link can be found next to the match listing in the Calendar of Events on the main page or the men's volleyball page. Live stats are available via Gametracker. The link can also can be found on the Calendar of Events on gostanford.com.
Stanford vs. No. 1
When Stanford plays host to No. 1 UC Irvine on Friday, it will mark the Cardinal's first match against a No. 1 team this year. The last time Stanford played a No. 1 was Feb. 23, 2008 when it beat top-ranked BYU, in Provo, 35-33, 30-22, 31-29. Spencer McLachlin had a team-high 16 kills and Kawika Shoji had 53 assists while handing the Cougars their first loss of the season.
Until then, Stanford had lost nine consecutive matches to No. 1 teams, dating back to 2003. Included in that streak were four at home, with three at Maples Pavilion.
The last time Stanford beat a No. 1 team at home was Jan. 21, 2001, when the No. 8 Cardinal knocked off Pepperdine, 30-28, 25-30, 26-30, 30-28, 15-13, at Maples Pavilion. Josh Lukens had 70 assists and Curt Toppel had a match-high 30 kills. Stanford fell behind in the final set, 10-6 and 13-11, but scored the final four points to win the match.
Shoji Believed to Hold National Record
We're still checking, but it's believed that Erik Shoji's total of 410 digs this season is a national record. The NCAA has just begun keeping official records for men's volleyball this year, so there is no official source of past standards. However, in researching the record books of most of the major-college teams, no team so far has been found to have a higher total than Shoji's. The second-highest total found so far is the Stanford record that Shoji broke last weekend, Scott Fortune's 379 from 1986. Shoji is the runaway national leader in digs this season, far ahead of second-place Dustin Watten of Long Beach State, who has 331.
Shoji has exceeded 20 digs in seven matches, with a school-record single-match high of 26 in a four-set home victory over No. 2 Pepperdine on Feb. 13. Shoji also had 23 in only three sets, a sweep of Hawai'i in his home state on Feb. 28. Taking only the totals of his seven 20-dig matches, Shoji would have 170, placing him 26th in the country.
See it Again
Erik Shoji's kick-assist dig against UC San Diego was chosen by ESPN as No. 3 in its Plays of the Week. The play has more than 185,000 views on Stanford's YouTube site at gostanford.com. Here is the link to Shoji's play:
http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-volley/spec-rel/040709aab.html
Friday's Opponent: UC Irvine
UC Irvine returned to the No. 1 spot this week in the Bison/AVCA Div. I-II Coaches Poll. It's a spot the Anteaters have held for four weeks this season, after first taking over the top spot on March 16 and holding it for three weeks. UCI is one of four teams be ranked No. 1 this season, along with Penn State, Pepperdine and Cal State Northridge. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan DuFault is the reigning AVCA national Player of the Week. He had 31 kills and a .491 hitting percentage in victories over USC and Pepperdine last week.
The UC Irvine Series
The Anteaters swept visiting Stanford on Feb. 6. UCI's Bryan Simmons was in on nine blocks in the match. In the all-time series history, Stanford holds a 24-11 lead.
Saturday's Opponent: UCLA
The No. 9 Bruins (13-14, 9-11) can clinch the eighth and final spot in the MPSF tournament by winning one of their final two matches, at Pacific on Friday, or at Stanford. There also is a chance UCLA could gain the No. 7 spot, if Long Beach State loses at UC San Diego on Friday. If so, the Bruins would need to win both matches to get that spot.
The UCLA Series
The longstanding rivalry with UCLA has been mostly one-sided. UCLA holds a 60-13 series lead and beat the Cardinal in their only meeting this season, a five-setter in Westwood on Feb. 5, despite a team season high of 28 kills by Evan Romero.
Senior Night
Tonight will mark the final regular season home match for four Stanford seniors and student assistant Joe Kay.
The seniors are: Cameron Christoffers, Miki Groppi, Jarod Keller and Brandon Williams. They have been the foundation for the Cardinal's rise during their collegiate careers from an also-ran to back into being one of the nation's elite programs. ="">