THIS WEEK: No. 9 Stanford (11-10, 6-8 MPSF) will play its final regular season home matches at Maples Pavilion, hosting No. 5 UC Irvine (16-6, 10-5 MPSF) on Friday at 8 p.m. and UC San Diego (7-15, 3-11 MPSF) on Saturday at 6 p.m.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Both matches will also be televised live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area with Kevin Barnett and Don Shaw on the call.
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).
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS: UC Irvine comes to The Farm boasting a five-match winning streak, including a sweep over No. 1 Ohio State on March 11. The Anteaters sit in fourth place in the conference standings and have already clinched a MPSF Tournament berth. The Anteaters are hitting .315 as a team and rank in the top half of the conference in assists (12.58), kills (13.33), aces (1.44) and opponent hitting percentage (.258). Senior opposite Tamir Hershko leads the team with 3.19 kills and 3.63 points per set. Freshman middle blocker Scott Stadick is fourth in the MPSF with 1.09 blocks per set and seventh with a .446 attack percentage. Senior setter Michael Saeta controls the offense with 9.07 assists per set and is second in the league with 0.62 aces per set.
SCOUTING THE TRITONS: UC San Diego is 3-11 in the MPSF and will play at Pepperdine on Thursday. The Tritons have won their past two matches, 3-1 victories over Cal Baptist and Concordia (CA). UCSD is hitting .238 as a team and collects 2.17 blocks per set. Junior Tanner Syftestad paces the team and ranks second in the MPSF with 5.07 points per set, fourth in kills (4.30) and eighth in aces (0.33). Junior setter Milosh Stojcic turns in 9.10 assists per set while directing the offense, while freshman libero Ryan Lew anchors the defense with 2.03 digs per set.
IT’S OUR ANNIVERSARY: The 2017 season marks the 20th anniversary of Stanford’s first NCAA championship team. The 1997 squad brought home the title for the Cardinal in its third appearance in the finals. To finish off a 15-7, 15-10, 9-15, 6-15, 15-13 victory over UCLA in the NCAA final, Matt Fuerbringer and Mike Hoefer combined for a block to deliver the championship in Columbus, Ohio. Mike Lambert had 27 kills, Andy Witt 19, and Keenan Whitehurst had 17 kills, nine blocks and a .617 hitting percentage. Lambert was named MVP of the NCAA Final Four and Whitehurst was named to the all-tournament team.
SENIOR NIGHT: Saturday marks Stanford’s final regular season home match of the 2017 season and the final home matches of redshirt senior Gabriel Vega and redshirt juniors Clay Jones and Colin McCall’s careers. The trio will be recognized in an on-court ceremony following the match against UC San Diego.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford hasn’t played a match since March 18, taking last week off for finals. In its most recent outing, the Cardinal struggled to find its offensive rhythm against Pepperdine in a 3-1 loss at Burnham Pavilion. Stanford committed 30 attack errors and 15 service errors against the Waves. Redshirt senior Gabriel Vega led the Cardinal with 16 kills, while middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw added 10 kills and four blocks. Junior libero Evan Enriques collected 12 digs.
IN THE POLL: Stanford dropped one spot to No. 9 in the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll after falling in four sets at home to Pepperdine on March 18. The Cardinal is still one of 10 MPSF squads to appear in the top 15.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks 14th nationally with 12.11 kills per set, while also appearing in the top 20 as a team in digs (8.78), assists (11.34) and blocks (2.20) per set. Individually, Kevin Rakestraw’s .426 hitting percentage is ninth in the nation, while junior Evan Enriques is 11th with 2.40 digs per set. Sophomore Jordan Ewert’s 3.60 kills per set and 4.15 points per set are 12th and 17th 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 190 kills (2.79 kps). Kevin Rakestraw is third on the team with 154 kills (2.14 kps) as a middle.
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.
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 185-125 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.
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