May 8, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. -
Complete Release in PDF Format
The NCAA Championship
The No. 1 Stanford men’s volleyball team hopes to complete a “Worst to First” journey Saturday against No. 12 Penn State in the NCAA Collegiate Championship at Maples Pavilion at 4 p.m. Stanford’s journey began in 2007 when the current senior class endured a 3-25 season as freshmen. That class, which includes 2010 National Player of the Year Kawika Shoji and 2010 second-team All-American Evan Romero, hopes to lead the Cardinal to its second-ever NCAA title and first since 1997.
In the first NCAA final ever held in Northern California, Stanford is the No. 1 seed and the nation’s top-ranked team, and advanced after beating Ohio State in the semifinals, 30-25, 30-26, 30-17, before a home-record crowd of 3,825 at Maples Pavilion on Thursday. Penn State (24-7) advanced as the No. 3 seed by sweeping No. 2 seed Cal State Northridge.
Follow the Action
• ESPN2 will broadcast the final live, with Justin Kutcher and Karch Kiraly calling the action, and can be seen online at ESPN3.com.
• Gametracker live stats will be available through gostanford.com. Look for the NCAA Tournament Central page for links, schedules, and results.
• A live radio broadcast can be heard over the air on KZSU-FM 90.1 and online at kzsulive.com. Walter Foxworth will call the action.
Ticket Information
Tickets can be purchased by phone, by calling 1-800-STANFORD, or online, at gostanford.com. Single all-session tickets range from $15-$25, while single match tickets range from $8-$15. Group rates are also available, in addition to an all-session VIP package.
Stanford’s Fourth NCAA Final
Stanford is appearing in its fourth NCAA final, having reached the championship match in each of its trips to the final four. The Cardinal is 5-2 all-time in the NCAA final four -- having reached the final in 1989, 1992, and 1997 -- but is only 1-2 in the championship match.
Stanford’s only title came in 1997, which was Stanford’s last NCAA appearance before this season. In addition, Stanford hadn’t even won a postseason match of any kind since beating UCLA in that 1997 NCAA final. Stanford had gone 0-8 in the MPSF Tournament until winning it and advancing to the NCAAs this year.
Stanford is 4-0 against out-of-conference opponents in the final four: beating Ball State, 3-1 (1989), Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-2 (1992), Ball State again, 3-0 (1997), and Ohio State, 3-0 (2010).
Here are Stanford’s final four results:
1989 (at UCLA): d. Ball State, 15-13, 8-15, 15-9, 15-13
l. to UCLA, 15-1, 15-13, 4-15, 15-12 (championship)
1992 (at Ball State): d. Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, 15-11, 15-11, 11-15, 13-15, 15-10
l. Pepperdine, 15-7, 15-13, 16-14 (championship)
1997 (at Ohio State):d. Ball State, 15-6, 15-9, 15-10
d. UCLA, 15-7, 15-10, 9-15, 6-15, 15-13 (championship)
2010 (at Stanford):d. Ohio State, 30-25, 30-26, 30-17
vs. Penn State (championship)
Worst to First
In 2007, Stanford struggled through a 3-25 season. That year, longtime assistant coach Al Roderigues took a talented yet raw freshman class under his wing and insisted that better days were ahead. During those long van rides after losses, Al instilled his belief that Stanford would one day go from “Worst to First,” partly to lift their spirits and build their confidence, but also because he saw the potential in a special group.
On March 19, Roderigues died of cancer. However, just days before his death, the team presented him with a photo collage that included a copy of the standings from 2007, with Stanford in last, and the new standings from 2010, with Stanford in first. Barely a week earlier, Stanford had risen to No. 1 in the national rankings and to first place in the conference for the first time in years. This week, Stanford has a chance to complete the “Worst to First” journey as it hosts the NCAA semifinals and final at Maples Pavilion. The team has the name “AL” stitched to its uniform shirtsleeves, and insists that it’s playing “with Al” rather than for him.
Work in Progress
Since the the 3-25 season, which was John Kosty’s first season as head coach after 16 years as an assistant, Stanford has made steady progress. The following is a yearly breakdown:
| Year | Overall | Ranking | MPSF | Place | Postseason |
| 2007 | 3-25 | none | 2-20 | 11th (tie) | none |
| 2008 | 17-11 | 9 | 12-10 | 4th (tie) | MPSF First Round |
| 2009 | 21-11 | 6 | 14-8 | 4th | MPSF First Round |
| 2010 | 23-6 | 1 | 16-6 | 1st | NCAA Finals |
Revisiting Stanford’s 1997 NCAA Title
In Stanford men’s volleyball lore, the Cardinal’s 1997 NCAA title is remembered for “The Block.” With Stanford clinging to a 14-13 lead in the fifth game, Matt Fuerbringer and Mike Hoefer stuffed a UCLA attack on championship point to give the Cardinal a 15-7, 15-10, 9-15, 6-15, 15-13 victory in Columbus, Ohio. Mike Lambert had 27 kills and was named the tournament MVP for coach Ruben Nieves’ team.
Stanford’s Semifinal Victory
Stanford and Ohio State were in a close battle during most of the first set, until the Cardinal broke a 23-23 tie with a 4-0 run fueled by two Brad Lawson service aces. In the second set, Stanford switched the attack from Lawson and Spencer McLachlin toward Evan Romero, who responded with nine of his match-high 15 kills. Stanford went on to a 30-25, 30-26, 30-17 victory. Romero had only two errors in 26 swings for a .500 hitting percentage. Stanford as a team hit .375, with Lawson nailing 14 kills. Gus Ellis had eight blocks, Kawika Shoji had 44 assists, and Erik Shoji had 12 digs.
Championship Opponent: Penn State
Penn State is shooting for its third NCAA championship, following titles in 1994 and 2008. The Nittany Lions arrived with vast NCAA experience, having reached the tournament 12 consecutive years and 25 time overall. Penn State has reached the final in two of the past three years.
Senior middle Max Lipsitz, a starter on the 2008 title team, is a first-team All-American. Junior libero Dennis Del Valle was an AVCA All-America second-team choice.
The Nittany Lions (23-7 overall) went 10-0 in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play, winning the EIVA Tait Division and then capturing the EIVA Touranment title with a 30-28, 30-27, 30-18 victory over Princeton.
Penn State finished the regular season as the No. 12-ranked team in the country, largely because of its 3-4 record against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams. All the matchups were on the road, and included consecutive three-set losses at the hands of UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge on April 9-10.
However, the Nittany Lions proved themselves with a convincing 30-21, 30-23, 30-28 rout of Cal State Northridge in the NCAA semfinals Thursday. Will Price, the brother of former Stanford volunteer assistant coach Andy Price, had 18 kills, as did Joe Sunder. Lipsitz had nine blocks, including two solo.
The Stanford-Penn State Series
• Penn State leads the all-time series, 5-4, and has won their past three meetings, dating back to 1998.
• The teams have never played at Maples Pavilion.
• The series is 1-1 all-time at Stanford, with both matches played at Burnham Pavilion.
• Their most recent matchup was Feb. 11, 2006, when Penn State won 30-22, 30-26, 30-25, in State College, Pa., when Stanford was in the midst of a 4-24 season.
• The last time they played at Stanford was March 9,1998, when Penn State won in four at Burnham Pavilion.
• Stanford’s last victory in the series was Jan. 28, 1995, in four sets at Burnham Pavilion.
Stanford Record-Breakers
The following are Stanford school records that have been broken this season:
• Kawika Shoji broke his own season rally-scoring record for assists on Thursday. Shoji had 1,394 in 2009. He now has 1.408 this year.
• Evan Romero extended his school career record (set last year) for kills in the rally-scoring era. He has 1,770.
• Kawika Shoji broke the career service ace record in the rally-scoring set by Kevin Hansen (2002-05), which was 91. Shoji has 108.
• Kawika Shoji broke the career digs record (rally-scoring era) of 711, once held by Hansen. Kawika Shoji has 826. Erik Shoji is No. 2 at 802.
• Garrett Werner broke the career rally-scoring era record for total blocks, once held by Chris Ahlfeldt (2003-06), who had 289. Werner has 363.
• Kawika Shoji broke Kevin Hansen’s school record for sets played (all eras) of 392. Shoji has 408. Evan Romero is right behind at 407.
Stanford Storyline: Crowd Favorites
The Cardinal has a boisterous and outrageous student section with many appearing in costume. Star Wars seems to be the current theme, with fans arriving en masse for Thursday’s NCAA semifinl in imperial stormtrooper masks. The crowd also included Darth Vader, C3P0 and Yoda, and a rebel fighter pilot. Regulars arrive dressed as figures such as Pac Man, Cookie Monster, Fat Bastard, Speedy Gonzales, Oscar the Grouch, Jack-In-The-Box, Ernie from Sesame Street, flashers, hospital patients, chefs, cows, bowling pins, pirates, football players, prisoners, leprauchans, and even a clone of coach John Kosty himself.
AVCA National Player of the Year
• , sr., setter: Shoji was awarded the National Player of the Year honor on Wednesday at the NCAA Championship banquet and was presented the award by former Stanford All-American setter and 2008 U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kevin Hansen. Shoji became the first Stanford winner after Canyon Ceman in 1993 and the second all-time.
Shoji is a two-time first-team All-American, and a returning academic All-American. No one has affected the rise of Stanford volleyball more than Shoji. The Honolulu native exercised a leap of faith when he committed to a struggling Stanford program, but became influential in making Stanford attractive to potential recruits, many from his home state of Hawaii. Shoji is averaging 13.80 assists, 2.43 digs, 0.89 kills, and 0.61 blocks per set. But numbers can’t desribe his ability to read the defense, cover ground like a center fielder, turn a wild pass into a perfect set, dump the ball into open space, or unleash a blind one-handed set.
All-Americans
Four Stanford players were named AVCA All-Americans this year, with three -- Kawika Shoji, Erik Shoji, and Brad Lawson -- earning first-team honors. Evan Romero was named to the second team.
• , soph., outside hitter: Lawson was selected as the MPSF Player of the Year and was named to the MPSF’s All-Tournament team. The Honolulu native has had a breakout season, emerging as one of the most dangerous hitters in the college game and one of the best all-around players. Lawson leads the Cardinal in kills per game (498, 4.83) and service aces (39, 0.38), is third in digs (162, 1.57), fourth in assists (44, 0.43), and fifth in blocks (56, 0.56).
But more than numbers, Lawson is deadly at the net, hitting with great velocity and precision. His backrow attacks were unparalleled and his defensive and passing skills were enough to absorb an opponent’s best shot and set in motion the same for Stanford. Lawson, who has started every match in his two seasons, is hitting .374 and was among Stanford’s most consistent players.
• , sr., opposite hitter: Romero was named the MPSF Tournament Most Valuable Player after combining for 37 kills, 11 digs, seven blocks and two aces in Stanford’s sweeps of Hawai’i and Cal State Northridge. He also hit .409 in the two matches. Romero is Stanford’s all-time kills leader in the rally-scoring era with 1,770.
Such honors were unlikely when he arrived at Stanford as incredibly raw prospect who only took up the game in high school and didn’t play club ball until his junior year in the Miami area. Also, Romero, a son of Cuban immigrants, is very proud of his heritage and prides himself on the passion that he brings to the court.
• , soph., libero: Only a sophomore, Shoji may be revolutionizing the game. As a freshman, he earned first-team All-America honors while establishing a national season record for digs, with 447 (3.92 per set), and was named AVCA Newcomer of the Year. This year, Shoji led the MPSF with 355 digs (3.41).
Shoji has an innate ability to read the opposing hitters, picking up on subtle changes in body position, and the placement of the block, to anticipate the path of the ball. Shoji also is an excellent setter and is second on the team in assists, with 78 -- all out of the back row because of the limitations of his position.
Stanford’s records in certain situations:
• Record in three-set matches: 12-1
• Record in four-set matches: 9-3
• Record in five-set matches: 2-2
• Record at Maples this season: 14-1
• Record when winning first set: 22-2
• Record when losing first set: 1-4
• Record when ahead two sets to zero: 16-0
• Record when down two sets to zero: 0-2
• Record when leading in hitting percentage: 20-3
