April 12, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - With two matches left in the regular season, the No. 5 Stanford men's volleyball team still can finish anywhere from first to fifth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings.
In the top-heavy conference race, five teams enter the weekend within one game of each other - topped by USC at 16-4 and four other teams, including Stanford, with five losses.
No matter what anyone else does, Stanford can vault from the fifth seed to the second by beating UC Santa Barbara on Friday and UCLA on Saturday in 7 p.m. matches at Maples Pavilion. Only the top four seeds host first-round matches in the MPSF tournament, which determines the conference's automatic NCAA berth. A loss in either match likely forces Stanford to go on the road for the first round and have to play one of the top-tier teams.
This Week:
Friday, 7 p.m.: UC Santa Barbara (7-17, 5-15) at No. 5 Stanford (18-6, 15-5), at Maples Pavilion.
Click here for live stats. Click here for the link to KZSU-2's online radio broadcast.
Saturday, 7 p.m.: No. 3 UCLA (21-6, 15-5) at Stanford, at Maples Pavilion.
Click here for live stats. Click here for the link to KZSU-2's online radio broadcast.
Senior Night: Following Saturday's match, Stanford will honor the winningest senior class in school history with a postgame ceremony. The seven seniors are Evan Barry, Gus Ellis, Charley Henrikson, Dylan Kordic, Brad Lawson, Erik Shoji, and Jake Vandermeer. Over the past four years, Stanford has compiled an 82-32 record, eclipsing the 81 victories won by the class of 2011.
Senior Glance:
- Evan Barry, setter: Barry is a two-year starter who leads the nation in assists per set, at 11.88.
- Gus Ellis, middle blocker: Has started since his freshman year and is on the verge of breaking the school rally-scoring era record for career blocks.
- Charley Henrikson, middle blocker: The fifth-year senior earned his master's in public policy on April 5.
- Dylan Kordic, setter: Switched from outside hitter to setter last year because of injury and backs up Barry.
- Brad Lawson, outside hitter: Two-time first-team All-America, school record holder for career service aces, 2010 NCAA tournament co-MVP, 2010 MPSF Player of the Year, and current national player of the year candidate.
- Erik Shoji, libero: Three-time first-team All-America, school record and national record holder for digs in a career and season. Possibly the best libero in collegiate history.
- Jake Vandermeer, outside hitter: A star for the Stanford club team who tried out and made the team as a sophomore walk-on.
Blocks Record Could Fall: Senior middle blocker Gus Ellis enters the weekend with 367 career blocks, which is only two shy of the school rally-scoring era record of 369, established by his former teammate Garrett Werner from 2007-10. Ellis also holds the single-match record with 11 blocks, and is second on the single-season list, with a best of 123 in 2010.
No. 100 (Players' Division): Fifth-year senior middle blocker Charley Henrikson has been a part of more victories than any player in Stanford history. Going into this weekend, Henrikson's five-year record is 99-43, just ahead of the win total of the great Matt Fuerbringer, who went 98-33 from 1993-97. With two matches left, Henrikson has a chance to become Stanford's first 100-victory player.
No. 100 (Coaches' Division): Stanford's sixth-year head coach John Kosty earned his 100th victory on April 3 in a sweep of visiting Pacific. Kosty's all-time record is 102-68. In conference play, Kosty's mark is 74-56. The Fountain Valley, Calif., native became one of three Stanford coaches to reach the century mark, joining Ruben Nieves (179-92 from 1991-2001) and former U.S. national team coach Fred Sturm (153-157 from 1979-1990).
Friday's Opponent, UC Santa Barbara: The Gauchos (7-17, 5-15) sit in 10th place in the 12-team conference and are out of the running for final open spot in the MPSF tournament. UCSB shocked the nation last year by rising from seventh place in the MPSF regular season to the NCAA final, where it lost to Ohio State. UCSB swept Hawai'i in a pair of home matches last week to halt an eight-match losing streak.
The UCSB Series: Brian Cook had 17 kills to lead Stanford to a 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18 victory at UCSB on Jan. 21. UCSB leads the all-time series 43-29. Stanford coach John Kosty was a standout at UCSB, graduating in 1987.
Saturday's Opponent, UCLA: The Bruins were in position to control its destiny to the No. 1 seed in the MPSF tournament, but lost to BYU in a controversial match that was played to an apparent UCLA victory on Friday. But the Bruins eventually lost after the final points of the five-set match were replayed Saturday. UCLA is tied for Stanford for fourth place in the MPSF at 15-5. The Stanford match marks the final regular-season match in the 50-year coaching career of Al Scates (see below).
The UCLA Series: UCLA leads the all-time series 62-17 and beat the Cardinal 25-23, 25-22, 25-17 in Westwood on Jan. 20.
Al Scates Tribute: Saturday's match will be the final one in the 50-year coaching career of UCLA's Al Scates, who is retiring at season's end. Stanford will honor Scates with a brief ceremony before the match and present him with a gift. Scates has coached 21 national championship teams, 27 Olympians, 78 first-team All-Americans, and seven national players of the year.
The MPSF Race: Stanford is fifth in the MPSF at 15-5 with two conference matches remaining. Stanford trails first-place USC (16-4) by one game and conceivably could earn a share of the regular-season title. Of more urgent concern, is trying to avoid finishing out of the top four. With five schools within one loss of each other in the standings, all are trying to avoid being the odd team out that will not play host to a first-round MPSF tournament match. The Stanford-UCLA match is the only one involving two of the top-five teams on the final weekend. Stanford holds the tiebreaker edge over BYU (17-5) and UC Irvine (16-5).
What It Means: Not only are teams vying for top seeds in the eight-team MPSF tournament (April 21-28), which determines the conference's lone automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, but they are attempting to get an edge on other NCAA at-large contenders. Of the NCAA's 42 men's volleyball titles, current MPSF teams have won 36.
No. 1's: Stanford is among five teams to have held the No. 1 ranking in the AVCA coaches' poll this season. Stanford was No. 1 for one week (Feb. 20) by both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine. Stanford played two matches as No. 1 - beating Pepperdine on Feb. 24 and losing to USC on Feb. 25. Other No. 1's this season have been BYU (which lost twice to Stanford while holding the top ranking), UCLA, UC Irvine, and current No. 1 USC.
Shoji National Player of the Week: Stanford senior libero Erik Shoji was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Men's Division I-II National Player of the Week and the MPSF Player of the Week for his performances in three victories over ranked teams last week.
Shoji had consecutive performances of 17 and 16 digs. His 17 in a sweep of Long Beach State tied for the second-highest total in school history for a three-set match in the rally-scoring era, and tied for the most digs in the nation this season for three sets. His 16 came in a dramatic five-set victory over Cal State Northridge.
Last Week: Stanford has won three straight and four of five since resuming action after a 22-day break during winter quarter finals. Last week, Stanford routed nemesis Long Beach State, 25-13, 25-16, 25-18, on Friday and followed with a 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 19-17 victory over Cal State Northridge on Saturday. Stanford fought off two match points before getting a block from Gus Ellis and Brian Cook on match point to seal it.
Stanford in National Statistics: Going into the weekend, senior setter Evan Barry led the nation in assists per set at 11.88. Brad Lawson is sixth in kills per set (3.98), and 10th in aces per set (0.42). Senior libero Erik Shoji is fifth in digs per set at 2.59.
As a team, The Cardinal is first in kills per set (13.83), first in assists per set (13.11), second in hitting percentage (.337), tied for eighth in won-loss percentage (.750), and 10th in aces per set (1.19).