THIS WEEK: No. 8 Stanford (9-7, 6-5 MPSF) travels east for a pair of nonconference matches in State College, Pennsylvania this week. The Cardinal will take on Lees-McRae (5-10, 3-7 CC) on Friday, March 3 at 2 p.m. PT and No. 15 Penn State (11-6, 6-2 EIVA) on Saturday, March 4 at 4:30 p.m. PT.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for both matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. There will be no live video of either of the matches this weekend.
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 dropped a pair of matches at home last week to third-ranked BYU. The Cougars held the Cardinal to a .168 team hitting percentage, while posting a .275 clip of their own. Redshirt senior Gabriel Vega led Stanford with 3.43 kills per set on .211 hitting, while libero Evan Enriques collected 3.57 digs per set. Freshman setter Paul Bischoff averaged 7.57 assists, 1.71 digs and 1.14 blocks per set in the two matches.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS: Lees-McRae is 5-10 overall and 3-7 in the Conference Carolinas this season. The Bobcats dropped a decision at King in straight sets in its most-recent outing on March 1. Senior outside hitter John Sobel leads the team with 3.34 kills and 1.02 digs per set, while freshman opposite Wes Rogman adds 2.50 kills and 1.45 digs per set. Freshman setter Reto Pfund directs the offense with 9.80 assists per set.
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS: The Nittany Lions entered the week at No. 15 in the AVCA poll with an 11-6 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the EIVA. Penn State is hitting .294 as a team and averaging 12.34 kills and 2.34 blocks per set, coming off road wins at George Mason (3-1) and Charleston (3-0). Senior outside hitter Chris Nugent paces the team with 3.50 kills and 1.26 digs per set on .320 hitting. Redshirt freshman setter Luke Braswell averages 10.40 assists per set and 1.61 digs per set, while redshirt freshman opposite Calvin Mende adds 3.14 kills on .306 hitting.
IN THE POLL: Stanford remained at No. 8 in this week’s AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll after falling to third-ranked BYU last week. The Cardinal is one of 10 MPSF squads to appear in the top 15.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks 11th nationally with 8.91 digs per set, while also appearing in the top 20 as a team in kills (12.16), assists (11.37) and blocks (2.15) per set. Individually, Kevin Rakestraw’s .421 hitting percentage is seventh in the nation, while junior Evan Enriques is 10th with 2.42 digs per set. Sophomore Jordan Ewert’s 3.60 kills per set and 4.15 points per set are 15th and 18th nationally, respectively.
FILLING THE VOID: Stanford graduated 55 percent of its offensive output from last season, leaving holes that need to be filled. Jordan Ewert is leading the Cardinal this season with 198 total kills (3.60 kps), while redshirt senior Gabriel Vega has tallied 145 kills (2.74 kps). Kevin Rakestraw is third on the team with 121 kills (2.12 kps) as a middle.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Ewert was selected as the FloVolleyball and MPSF Players of the Week on Feb. 13. The Antioch, California native averaged 4.80 klls and 5.05 points per set on .301 hitting against then-No. 4 UCLA and No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. He set a career-high in kills against UCLA (22) and then surpassed it versus UCSB (26). It marked the first weekly honors for Ewert’s career and the Cardinal’s first of the season.
TOP-RANKED CLASS: Freshmen Eric Beatty (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Paul Bischoff (Wheaton, Ill.) were named AVCA First Team High School All-Americans. Stanford was one of three teams nationally with two selections to the first team. Jacob Thoenen (St. Charles, Mo.) and Eli Wopat (Santa Barbara, Calif.) earned second team honors, while Stephen Moye (El Segundo, Calif.) and Mason Tufuga (Costa Mesa, Calif.) round out the Cardinal’s freshman class, which was rated No. 1 in the nation by VolleyballMag.com.
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. Additionally, 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.
2016 RECAP: Stanford (19-6, 17-5 MPSF) may have surprised some people at the start of the 2016 season, winning seven of its first eight matches (including five on the road). However, with a healthy James Shaw quarterbacking the offense and veteran players in key positions, the Cardinal had high expectations for the season. After being picked to finish eighth by the MPSF coaches, Stanford tied for second in the league and produced five All-MPSF selections, including Shaw being tabbed the Player of the Year. The Cardinal also led the nation in 2016 with three AVCA first-team All-Americans.
ALL-AMERICANS: Stanford led the nation with three AVCA first-team All-Americans, and totaled four overall in 2016. Seniors Conrad Kaminski and James Shaw, and libero Evan Enriques were placed on the first team, while senior Madison Hayden collected honorable mention honors. The selections brought Stanford’s total AVCA All-America award count to 55 honors spread over 25 players. It marked the second time in the past three seasons in which the Cardinal had produced four All-Americans. However, only Enriques returns to the roster this season.
VOLLEYBALL LINEAGE: The mothers of Kyle Dagostino, Evan Enriques and Jordan Ewert all played collegiate volleyball. Lauri Dagostino competed at South Florida, Julie Enriques played at Oregon State and Donna Ewert was a member of the Cal squad. Additionally, Dagostino’s sister, MacKenzie, was a setter for the Florida Gators and Enriques’ father, Guy, was the head coach of the women’s volleyball team at Oregon State.
FOREIGN TOUR: In late August, Stanford embarked on a tour which spanned two weeks and five countries. It began in Italy, where the Cardinal faced off against recent alum James Shaw and his Padova team, and took the squad to Slovenia, Croatia, Austria and the Czech Republic. The trip was a mixture of competition, sightseeing and cultural experiences for the team.
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 183-122 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.
News courtesy of Stanford Athletics.
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