April 24, 2009
STANFORD, Calif. - It's as official as it's going to be: Stanford freshman libero Erik Shoji heads into Saturday night's home playoff match as the national single-season record holder in digs.
Shoji has 432, a Stanford record for sure. After research of many of the records of schools around the country, no one has more.
The NCAA has just begun keeping official stats, but before that there have been no official men's volleyball records. Because not every school's records could be located, it can't be said with certainty that Shoji holds the record. However, until someone comes up with a figure that shows otherwise, it seems appropriate to declare him at least the NCAA Division I record-holder.
The next-highest single-season number found is from the player that Shoji surpassed in the Stanford record book. Scott Fortune had 379 in 1986, the age before liberos. That number seems especially impressive today because it came from a front-row player.
The third-highest total comes from former UCLA libero Tony Ker, who had 368 last season. Ker is described by UCLA as the NCAA career leader in digs, with 1,220.
There have been only 11 20-dig performances in major-college volleyball this season, and Shoji has seven of them. He leads the nation in digs, for three-, four- and five-set matches.
Shoji and his teammates will be in action Saturday at 7 p.m. when the No. 4 Cardinal (21-10) plays host to No. 7 USC (17-10) in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament at Maples Pavilion. The match marks Stanford's first home postseason match since 2003.
The cost is $10 for adults, and $5 for students. However, the first 250 students will be admitted free.