Four Cardinal Named Volleyball All-Americans

April 29, 2010

STANFORD, Calif. -

AVCA All-America teams in PDF Format

Three Stanford players were named first-team All-American in men’s volleyball on Thursday, the most for the Cardinal in 18 years.

Kawika Shoji and brother Erik Shoji repeated on the first team, and were joined by for the first time by Brad Lawson. In addition, senior Evan Romero earned his first All-America honor by being named to the second team by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

Kawika Shoji, a senior setter, and Lawson, a sophomore outside hitter, also are candidates for AVCA’s National Player of the Year award, which will be announced at the NCAA Championship banquet at Stanford on May 5 (the NCAA Tournament will be held at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion on May 6 and 8).

Together, they have helped Stanford (20-6) to a No. 1 ranking going into Thursday night’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament semifinal against visiting Hawai’i.

This is the third All-America honor for Kawika and second on the 10-player first team. Shoji is among the national leaders in assists at 13.61 per game and has been vital to Stanford’s rise to prominence from a 3-25 season during his freshman season in 2007 until now.

Erik Shoji, a sophomore libero, is regarded as the nation’s best defensive player. He is among the national leaders in digs, averaging 3.46 per game.

Lawson, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year, has had a breakout season and is averaging 4.80 kills per game, with a hitting percentage of .380.

Romero, a senior opposite hitter, is Stanford all-time leader in kills in the rally-scoring era (since 2001) and is averaging 4.50 kills per game.

Stanford has not had three first-team All-Americans since 1992 when Duncan Blackman, Canyon Ceman, and Dave Goss were honored. A year later, Ceman would become Stanford’s only National Player of the Year, a drought that is expected to end next week.

Stanford has now had 26 All-America honors, 17 first-team selections, and 11 first-team players since the AVCA began selecting All-Americans in 1992.