April 18, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford senior outside hitter Brad Lawson was named Sports Imports/AVCA Men's Division I-II National Player of the Week for his role in a pair of Cardinal men's volleyball victories last weekend.
Lawson, a two-time AVCA first-team All-America, led Stanford to three-set victories over visiting UC Santa Barbara and UCLA to lift the Cardinal from fifth to a second-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Lawson, a 6-7 senior outside hitter, had 16 kills with only one error while hitting a scorching .714, with five digs, against UCSB on Friday. Needing a victory to secure homecourt for the first round of the MPSF tournament, Stanford got another strong performance from its captain. Lawson hit .348 with 11 kills to lead Stanford to a sweep of the No. 3 Bruins before a season-high crowd of 1,730 at Maples Pavilion.
For the week, Lawson combined for 27 kills, 4.50 kills per set, and a .523 hitting percentage.
This is the fifth time that the Honolulu native has earned National Player of the Week honors.
Lawson needs just 15 kills to tie the Stanford career record for kills in the rally-scoring era. Lawson has 1,766, just behind the 1,781 of Evan Romero (2007-10).
He'll have a chance to break the mark in what likely will be the final home match of his career, on Saturday when the now-No. 3 Cardinal (20-6) plays host to No. 9 Pepperdine (14-14) in an MPSF tournament first-round match at Maples Pavilion at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youths, and can be purchased Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m.