Press Release courtesy of Stanford Athletics
THIS WEEK: Stanford (4-17, 1-7 MPSF) wraps up a seven-match homestand against No. 13 Grand Canyon (16-8, 3-6, MPSF) Thursday and No. 14 Concordia (12-13, 3-6 MPSF) Saturday. Both matches will be played in Maples Pavilion.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Both matches will be streamed live for free on pac-12.com. Live stream and live stat links for the matches can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com.
ABOUT GRAND CANYON: Grand Canyon (16-8) moved into a tie for fourth place in the MPSF last week with a victory over Concordia. The Lopes are hitting .280 as a team and rank eighth nationally with 2.49 blocks per set. Senior middle blocker Ashton King is second in the MPSF with a .437 attack percentage and eighth with 0.96 blocks per set. Senior outside hitter Cody Williams leads Grand Canyon and is ninth in the league with 2.97 kills and 3.66 points per set. The last time the teams met, Stanford posted its best hitting percentage of the season (.489) en route to a four-set win on Feb. 17. Opposite Jaylen Jasper hit .633 (20-1-30) in the victory.
ABOUT CONCORDIA: Concordia (12-13) is coming off a four-set loss at Grand Canyon last week, which put the Eagles in a tie for fourth place in the MPSF with the Lopes. The Eagles rank in the top-10 nationally with 2.64 blocks per set (4th) and 9.95 digs per set (8th). Senior libero Jacob Weiser leads the MPSF and is fourth in the country with 2.76 digs per set. Sophomore outside hitter Raymond Barsemian leads the team and is seventh in the conference with 3.33 kills and 4.02 points per set. Stanford was swept by Concordia in the first meeting this season in Irvine.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford dropped a four-set decision at home to USC on March 17. Three Cardinal tallied double-digit kills, led by Jaylen Jasper’s 20. Stanford posted 10.0 blocks as a team – its highest of the season. Senior libero Evan Enriques racked up a match-best 13 digs.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Senior libero Evan Enriques is one of four in his immediate family to currently be playing collegiate men’s volleyball. His younger brother, Emmett, is a junior libero at CSUN, while twins Addison and Avery are freshmen at Concordia and Grand Canyon, respectively.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks 14th as a team nationally with 12.22 kills per set and 20th with a .252 team hitting percentage. Individually, freshman Jaylen Jasper is eighth with 3.86 kills per set, while senior Evan Enriques is 19th with 2.34 digs per set.
WHO’S IN?: With injuries and a young roster, Stanford has struggled to find a consistent lineup. The Cardinal has utilized nine different starting lineups this season. Freshman middle blocker Kyler Presho is the only Cardinal to start all 21 matches at the same position this year.
COACHES POLL: Stanford, along with Pepperdine, was picked to finish third in the MPSF by the league’s coaches. BYU, which received four first-place votes, was picked to win the MPSF for the third straight season, while UCLA collected two first-place votes and came in second.
NEW-LOOK MPSF: Each MPSF team will play 12 conference matches this season, featuring a home and away against each opponent. The 2018 MPSF Tournament begins with seed two, three and four hosting a quarterfinal match on April 14. The conference semifinals will be played on April 19 at the No. 1 seed. Semifinal winners will meet on April 21 for the championship with an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on the line.
2017 RECAP: Stanford finished the 2017 campaign 13-13 overall and 8-10 in the MPSF. After being picked to finish seventh by the MPSF coaches, Stanford tied for sixth and secured its ninth postseason appearance under head coach John Kosty. The Cardinal produced four all-conference selections and two AVCA All-Americans.
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty is in his 12th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 28th overall on staff. He is 191-145 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 10 seasons under Kosty. Stanford has appeared in the MPSF Tournament in nine of Kosty’s 11 seasons (missing out in 2007 and 2015).
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