Feb. 23, 2000

Recent Matches:
Fri., Feb. 17
#3 Pepperdine	L, 3-1
Sat., Feb. 18
#9 Loyola Marymount	W, 3-0
Tues., Feb. 22
#15 UC Irvine	W, 3-1

Upcoming Matches:
Fri., Feb. 25
vs. Pacific	7:00 p.m.

Match Recap: The Cardinal posted a 2-1 record in three matches over a six day span, defeating No. 9 Loyola Marymount (3-0) and No. 15 UC Irvine (3-1) while dropping a hard-fought 3-1 decision to No. 3 Pepperdine. Stanford's victories against the Lions and Anteaters marked the first wins of the season against Top 15 opponents and pushed the Cardinal to a 6-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record. The Cardinal hit a season-high 48.3 percent against Loyola Marymount, holding the Lions to hitting percentages of 16.0 in game one and 22.0 in game two. Against UC Irvine, Stanford bounced back from a 15-11 game one loss to take three straight from the Anteaters, concluding the match with 14 kills on 22 attacks for a decisive 15-6 game four win. Despite the loss to Pepperdine, Stanford had probably its most balanced attack of the season. For the first time this season, the Cardinal had three players with 20 or more kills -- Curt Toppel (36), Marcus Skacel (20) and Kyle Strache (20) -- and a fourth, Brett Youngberg with 17 kills in the four-game match.

National Statistics: Freshman middle blocker Curt Toppel (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) continues to lead the nation with a 8.22 kills-per game average with 296 kills in 36 games this season. Toppel still holds the nation's top kill total for a match after a 48 kill performance against San Diego State (2/11) and has recorded 30 or more kills in five of the last six matches. Hector Soto of IPFW trails Toppel at 7.48 kills-per game. Junior setter Josh Lukens (San Diego, CA) moved up to sixth in assists-per game at 18.54 and sophomore outside hitter Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, CA) rose to No. 16 with a 2.38 digs-per game average.

On Fire: Over the last five matches, sophomore outside hitter Marcus Skacel (Laguna Niguel, CA) has developed into viable offensive and defensive weapon for the Cardinal. Over the last seven matches (25 games), Skacel has a 5.08 kills-per game average, which is a contrast to his first six matches of the season (18 games) when he recorded 2.72 kills-per game. Skacel has 20 or more kills in the last three matches. Defensively, Skacel has stepped up his play with a 2.38 digs-per game average with four double-digit matches over the past five games. He had a season-high 16 digs against UC Irvine.

Skacel Breakdown

Matches  Kills   Avg.    Digs    Avg.
1-6      49      2.72    33      1.83
7-13     127     5.08    60      3.33
Totals   176     4.09    109     2.53

Quick Notes: Stanford remained out of the AVCA Top 15 for the third consecutive week, only receiving seven votes... The Cardinal reached a season-high No. 12 in the Jan. 18 poll... Junior setter Josh Lukens reached the 2,000 assist milestone against San Diego State on January 16... Stanford (6-7, 6-5 MPSF) currently sits in fourth place in the Pacific Division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, trailing first place USC (10-2, 7-1 MPSF)... Freshman Seth Ring has taken over the libero position for the Cardinal over the past five matches, averaging 1.76 digs-per game... If the season ended today, Curt Toppel would set a new Cardinal single-season record for kills-per game (8.44), breaking David Goss' 1992 record of 7.52... The Cardinal dropped both matchups with Pacific last season... Stanford and Pacific played two five-game matches.