#7 Stanford Travels To #14 CSUN, #3 Long Beach State

THIS WEEK: No. 7 Stanford (6-2, 3-0 MPSF) hits the road to take on 14th-ranked CSUN (8-3, 1-3 MPSF) on Friday, Feb. 3 and third-ranked Long Beach State (7-2, 3-1 MPSF) on Saturday, Feb. 4. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. PT.

CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for both matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Friday’smatch will be streamed live on gomatadors.com, while Saturday’smatch can be seen on YouTube. All links can be found on GoStanford.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Fans have access to unique behind-the-scenes content on the team by liking Stanford Men’s Volleyball on Facebook or following the team on Twitter (@StanfordMVB) and Instagram (@therealstanfordmvb).

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford swept USC and Cal Baptist for its first home wins of the season, and improved to 3-0 in the MPSF. Redshirt junior Kevin Rakestraw paced the team with 3.00 kills and 2.00 blocks per set while hitting .571 in the two matches. Sophomore Jordan Ewert added 2.67 kills and 2.67 digs per set, while libero Evan Enriques also notched 2.67 digs per set for Stanford. The Cardinal is one of just two teams to remain undefeated in MPSF play.

SCOUTING THE MATADORS: CSUN moved up to No. 14 this week in the rankings, holding an 8-3 overall record. The Matadors lead the nation with a .392 hitting percentage and rank fourth in the MPSF in kills (12.95) and aces (1.61). Sophomore Dimitar Kalchev leads the MPSF with 0.82 aces per set and is second in the league with 5.09 points per set. The outside hitter is also fourth in the MPSF with a .508 attack percentage and fifth in kills (4.03). Setter Sam Porter controls the offense with 11.17 assists per set, while libero CJ Suarez collects 2.25 digs per set.

SCOUTING THE 49ERS: Long Beach State comes in at No. 3 this week in the AVCA poll with a 7-2 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the MPSF. The 49ers had won four in a row before falling in four sets at No. 1 Ohio State last week. Long Beach State leads the MPSF in assists per set (12.33), while ranking second in kills (13.18), third in hitting percentage (.344) and fourth in blocks (2.41). Sophomore setter Josh Tuaniga paces the country with 11.33 assists per set, while senior libero Andrew Sato is second in the MPSF with 2.69 digs per set. Sophomore outside hitter TJ DeFalco leads the offense with 3.97 kills per set and 4.61 points per set.

IN THE POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 7 in this week’s AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll after its sweeps over USC and Cal Baptist last week, its highest mark of the 2017 season. The Cardinal is one of nine MPSF squads to appear in the top 15.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford leads the MPSF with 1.85 service aces per set and ranks third in blocks per set at 2.25. The Cardinal’s aces per set mark is third-best in the country, while its blocks per set is eighth nationally. Individually, Kevin Rakestraw’s .570 hitting percentage leads the MPSF and is second in the nation, while sophomore Jordan Ewert’s 4.48 points per set is 12th nationally.

OPPORTUNITY AHEAD: Stanford graduated 55 percent of its offensive output from last season, leaving holes that need to be filled. Jordan Ewert is leading the way with 93 total kills (3.72 kps), while Kevin Rakestraw is second on the team with 66 kills (2.54 kps) as a middle.

OFF THE BLOCK PRESEASON RECOGNITION: Evan Enriques was the first winner of the Erik Shoji Award, given to the nation’s top libero by Off The Block after the 2016 season. The junior was named a first team preseason All-American by the site, which collected votes from head coaches around the nation. Jordan Ewert, Kevin Rakestraw, Gabriel Vega and Paul Bischoff all received votes.

COACHES POLL: Stanford was picked to finish seventh in the MPSF by the league’s coaches. BYU garnered nine-first place votes and was picked to be the champion. UCLA, which collected three first-place votes, came in second followed by Long Beach State.

HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty is in his 11th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 27th overall on staff. He is 180-117 in his career and has guided Stanford to the 2010 NCAA national championship and the 2014 NCAA finals. The Cardinal has produced a first team AVCA All-America selection in eight of the past nine seasons under Kosty.