THIS WEEK: The No. 3 Stanford men’s volleyball team (15-2, 13-2) plays host to No. 9 Pepperdine (8-6, 7-6 MPSF) for its lone match of the week, Saturday, March 12 at 4 p.m. PT.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for Saturday’s match can be found on the men’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. The match will also be televised live on Pac-12 Bay Area.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Fans will have access to unique behind-the-scenes content on the team this season by liking Stanford Men’s Volleyball on Facebook or following the team on Twitter (@StanfordMVB) and Instagram (@therealstanfordmvb).
SCOUTING PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine plays host to No. 15 Cal Baptist on Thursday, March 10 before making the trip to The Farm. The Waves rank in the top half of the MPSF in blocks (3.18), hitting percentage (.293), aces (1.37) and opponent hitting percentage (.253). Redshirt senior Matt Tarantino paces the squad and is sixth in the league with 3.49 kills per set and seventh with 4.14 points per set. Freshman outside hitter David Wieczorek is fifth in the MPSF in aces (0.43) and 14th in points per set (3.71).
ROAD WARRIORS: Sanford played eight of its first 10 matches on the road this year. The Cardinal is 9-2 in its road matches in 2016 compared to a 2-10 mark in matches away from The Farm last season.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford travelled to Pepperdine last week, sweeping the Waves at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Cardinal came-from-behind to win the opening set, which had 28 tie scores and nine lead changes, 32-30. Senior Madison Hayden finished with a team-best 11 kills, while senior James Shaw finished with 38 assists, six kills and five blocks. Matt Tarantino led Pepperdine with 15 kills on .310 hitting.
IN THE POLL: Stanford remained at No. 3 in the top-15 of the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll this week. It marks Stanford’s highest ranking since the 2014 season. The Cardinal is one of 10 MPSF squads ranked in the top 15.
HOT START: Stanford (15-2) has already surpassed its win total from a season ago (10) with seven regular season matches left on the schedule. Currently in a tie for first place in the MPSF, the Cardinal has already clinched a MPSF postseason berth.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Stanford ranks second in the MPSF in hitting percentage (.355), kills (13.21) and aces (1.56). The Cardinal is also fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.227) and assists (12.18).
SENIOR CONTRIBUTIONS: Stanford’s four seniors - Madison Hayden, Conrad Kaminski, James Shaw and Alex Stephanus - account for 54 percent of the team’s kills this season. Hayden leads the way, ranking fifth in the MPSF with 3.59 kills per set and sixth with 4.15 points per set. Kaminski is fifth in the conference with a .493 attack percentage, while Shaw is third in assists (10.34) and seventh in aces (0.39).
FROM THE JUMP: Stanford has won all 17 of its opening sets this season. The Cardinal is 9-0 when winning the first two sets of the match, and 13-0 when hitting above .300.
DEFENSIVE-MINDED: As a team, Stanford ranks third in the MPSF with 8.87 digs per set, recording a season-high 50 at IPFW on Jan. 9. Sophomore libero Evan Enriques is second the conference with 2.62 digs per set. The Cardinal also ranks fourth in blocks per set as a team (2.63). Senior Conrad Kaminski is fourth in the MPSF with 1.38 blocks per set, totaling a season-high nine at BYU on Jan. 16 and versus Hawai’i on Feb. 13.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Setter James Shaw has volleyball in his genes. He is the son of former Stanford volleyball coaching great Don Shaw. His father coached the Stanford women’s team to four NCAA titles in 16 seasons (440-70, .863) and was the Cardinal men’s head coach for seven seasons. He is a member of the AVCA Hall of Fame. Shaw’s sister, Jordan, played at Saint Mary’s and is now on the Gaels’ indoor staff as an assistant coach and is the head coach of their beach volleyball team.
MORE 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, Kyle Dagostino’s sister, MacKenzie just finished her career as a setter for the Florida Gators and Evan Enriques’ father, Guy, was the head coach of the women’s volleyball team at Oregon State.
ALUMS OVERSEAS: Stanford currently has five alums playing professionally in Europe:
Brian Cook (‘14): Tonazzo Padova (Italy)
Steven Irvin (‘14): Abiant Lycurgus GRONINGEN (Netherlands)
Eric Mochalski (‘14): ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (Slovenia)
Eric Shoji (‘12): Berlin Recycling Volleys (Germany)<
Kawika Shoji (‘10): Arkas Izmir (Turkey)
HEAD COACH JOHN KOSTY: Stanford head coach John Kosty is in his 10th season at the helm of the Cardinal program and his 26th overall on staff. He is 170-111 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 seven of the past eight seasons under Kosty.
