April 3, 2002
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This Week's Action:
Friday, April 5 ..... vs. No. 13 UC Irvine (11-14) ..... Maples Pavilion, 7 p.m.
Cardinal Update...
Stanford concludes its four-match homestand and will play their final home regular season match on Friday, April 5th against UC Irvine. Before the match Stanford will honor its graduating seniors, and game time set to begin at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal have won two consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches and are coming off a 3-0 sweep of California in an exhibition match on Tuesday. Stanford stands at 14-8 overall and 13-6 in conference play. The Cardinal have earned a berth in the MPSF Conference Tournament and are trying to finish as one of the top four teams so they can host a first round game on April 20th. Stanford will conclude its regular season schedule next weekend at USC and Pepperdine.
The Rankings...
Stanford stayed at the No. 7 spot in the April 2nd USA Today/AVCA Poll after earning two conference victories. Pepperdine holds the top spot, followed by UCLA, Hawai'i, BYU and Penn State, who round out the top-five. UC Irvine checks in at No. 13. The MPSF Conference holds ten of the 15 available spots.
Scouting The Anteaters...
UC Irvine dropped back-to-back 3-0 matches to No. 3 Hawaii in Honolulu, Hawaii, last week. Jarett Jensen led the Anteaters in the first match with 16 kills, while Erick Helenihi paced all players with 26 kills in the second match. Irvine currently stands at 11-14 and 5-13 in the MPSF.
Last Time Out...
Stanford rebounded from its loss at top-ranked UCLA to take a 3-1 win over Long Beach State and a sweep over UC San Diego. Curt Toppel led all players and hit a .450 clip against the 49ers. Billy Strickland added 13, followed by Paul Bocage and Marcus Skacel who finished with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Kevin Hansen dished out 62 assists and added five kills and two service aces. Toppel again led Stanford with a match-high 15 kills against the Tritons. Skacel pounded nine kills, hit for a .615 clip and posted a match-high 10 digs. Hansen and Patrick Bomhack split the setting duties, combining for 46 of the Cardinal's 49 assists. Bomhack tallied a match-high 28 and helped his cause finishing with three kills on four attempts. Against Cal, William Curtis led the Cardinal offense with 13 kills, while Bocage added 10 kills and six blocks. Bomhack dished out a match-high 34 assists, eight digs and seven blocks in the Stanford victory.
Stanford Tries To Complete The Sweep...
The Cardinal picked up their fourth consecutive victory and took a 3-0 (30-23, 30-21, 30-24) win over UC Irvine in Crawford Hall on March 8th. Stanford was led by Marcus Skacel with 16 kills and Curt Toppel's 12. Skacel and Billy Strickland each recorded six digs for the Cardinal, while setter Kevin Hansen dished out a match-high 41 assists in the win. Stanford dominated the net, outblocking the Anteaters 11-5.5, with Paul Bocage tallying eight block assists.
Toppel That...
Junior opposite hitter Curt Toppel has had a tremendous 2002 season thus far. The Pacific Palisades, Calif., native has led the Cardinal attack in 18 of the 22 Stanford matches, including a season-high 34 kills at Long Beach State on Friday, a 32-kill effort at BYU on Jan. 12 and recorded 31 kills against Pepperdine on Feb. 22. For the year, Toppel has recorded 423 kills and is hitting a .369 clip. He is also averaging 5.35 kills per game, posting double-kill figures in 20 matches. In MPSF matches, Toppel is third in the conference averaging 5.37 kills per game.
Set Me Up...
Redshirt freshman Kevin Hansen has made the most of his first year as Stanford's starting setter. Hansen has dished out 1071 assists, good for a 13.56 assists per game average. Against Pepperdine on Feb. 22, Hansen dished out a career-high 76 assists and vs. Hawai'i on Jan. 29 he recorded 73. He is fourth in conference with a 13.49 assist average. Hansen was named Molten MPSF Player of the Week on Feb. 19th for his efforts against Pacific and UCLA. The Newport Beach, Calif., native set Stanford to a .316 hitting percentage against the Bruins and .333 clip against the Tigers.
Playing Tough "D"...
Paul Bocage and Marcus Skacel are leading the Cardinal defense in 2002. In 68 games, Bocage is averaging 1.07 blocks per game and has a team-high 73 total blocks. Skacel has recorded 132 digs this season, averaging a team-leading 1.65 per game in 80 games.
Rankings From The MPSF...
Despite its 13-6 conference mark, Stanford is ranked second among the MPSF schools for team kill average and hitting percentage . The Cardinal are averaging 16.55 kills per game in conference play and hitting a .363 clip. Stanford also leads the conference in assists, average with 15.59.
Don Shaw Named Head Coach...
On June 22 Don Shaw, who established himself as one of the top coaches in collegiate volleyball history during his illustrious 16-year tenure as Stanford's women's head volleyball coach, was named Stanford's men's volleyball coach. Shaw captured four NCAA Championships and eight Pacific-10 Conference Championships with the Stanford women. He also holds the top winning percentage in women's college volleyball history with his 440-70 (.863) record. As a player, Shaw was a member of the United States National Team and was one of the top beach players in the country during his playing career.
