April 1, 2008

Stanford, Calif. - Stanford Volleyball This Week
Fri, Apr. 4 vs. UC San Diego, 7 p.m., Maples Pavilion
Sat, Apr. 5 vs. No. 4 Long Beach State, 7 p.m., Burnham Pavilion

Coming Up
Stanford men's volleyball will return home for the first time in over month to face two MPSF conference foes in UC San Diego and No. 4 Long Beach State. The Cardinal will face off against UC San Diego (9-15, 5-13) in Maples Pavilion on Friday, Apr. 4 at 7:00 p.m. Stanford will then host the No. 4 ranked Long Beach State 49ers in Burnham Pavilion on Saturday, Apr. 5 at 7:00 p.m. Long Beach State is currently one game behind conference leader CS Northridge and are 19-5 overall.

Last Week
Last weekend the Cardinal finished played their last two games on the road in the regular season, but were unable to pull out either game. Stanford lost last Friday night to Pepperdine (30-22,30-27,31-29) and last Saturday night to USC (30-26,30-21,30-19) to end up with a 9-9 record in MPSF conference play. Stanford is now in sixth place in the conference standings.

Important Stretch
Currently Stanford is in sixth place with a 9-9 record and is currently one game behind fifth place UCLA and one and a half games behind Pepperdine. The Cardinal will host four very important games in the next two weeks which will have heavy implications for their playoff seeding.

Stanford Falls to 8th in CSTV/AVCA Poll
The Cardinal fell to No. 8 in the CSTV/AVCA poll after occupying the sixth spot in the previous poll. The team earned 119 points, to maintain a 6-point lead over 9th ranked UC Irvine. Penn State (23-1) remained in the top spot after earning 12 first-place votes, while CS Northridge (17-4) stayed in the second spot and received four first-place votes as well. Long Beach State (19-5), BYU (19-4) and Pepperdine (12-8) rounded out the top five.

Season Leaders
The Cardinal is coming up on the end of the season and have some usual faces on their leaderboard. For the second straight year Stanford is led by Romero, with 358 kills, and senior Matt Ceran is second with 256 kills and is leading second on the team in digs with 153. Sophomore Kawika Shoji is leading the team with 798 assists, and junior Brandon Williams is leading the team in blocks with 59.

Romero Named AVCA National Player of the Week and MPSF Co-Player of the Week
Cardinal sophomore Evan Romero was named AVCA National Player of the Week and MPSF Co-Player of the Week for the week of for February 26-March 3. Romero led the No. 9 Cardinal to a 3-0 week after two defeats of Hawai'i and a win over UC Santa Cruz. In the Wednesday game against Hawai'i, Romero had 29 kills and 9 digs in the 3-2 win. Romero hit .302 in the contest. Romero had a career day though in the Thursday 3-0 win when he recorded 20 kills and hit .692 in the win. In the final game, a 3-0 win over Santa Cruz, Romero added eight kills and played in only two of the games. His week totals were 57 kills and a .421 attack percentage for the weekend.

Romero's Consistency
Sophomore Evan Romero has had a very consistent season en route to recording 296 kills on the season. Romero is more than two-thirds to his season-total of 384 kills, achieved in his freshman season. Romero recorded 20 kills in the win against Pacific in Stanford's only action. Romero also recorded 27 kills in the two games last week against UC Santa Barbara and CS Northridge. Romero also recorded 46 kills in the two wins over Hawai'i. Romero most recently recorded 17 kills in a loss to Pepperdine.

McLachlin Providing A Lift
Freshman Spencer McLachlin missed seven games earlier in the season, but has returned the past two weekends and has provided the Cardinal with a huge lift. McLachlin returned to record 11 saves in the victory against UC Santa Barbara (2/8) and eight kills in the loss to CS Northridge (2/9). McLachlin had his best game since his return against Pacific (2/15) when he recorded 16 kills in the victory to go along with 13 digs and a .314 attack percentage.

About the Tritons
The UC San Diego Tritons come into the match on Friday with a record of 9-15 and a 5-13 mark in MPSF Conference play. Jason Spangler is leading the team in kills with 415 and Frank Fritsch is right behind with 302 kills. Phil Bannan is the leading assist man as he has racked up 766 assists and averages 10.61 assists per game. UCSD is led by head coach Kevin Ring, who is in his third season in charge of the Tritons.

About the 49ers
The Long Beach State 49ers comes into the match on Saturday with a record of 19-5 and a 14-4 mark in MPSF Conference play. Paul Lotman is leading the team in kills with 252 kills and Dean Bittner is right behind with 208 kills. Mike Klipsch is the leading assist man as he has compiled 558 assists on the season and averages 15.18 per game. Long Beach State is led by head coach Alan Knipe, who is in his eighth season in charge of the 49ers.

Up Next
The Cardinal will remain at home next weekend when they face off against UCLA and defending champion UC Irvine. These games will take place on Friday, Apr. 11 and Saturday, Apr. 12. The Friday game will take at Maples Pavilion and the Saturday game will be played at Burnham Pavilion.