Dec. 9, 2009

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford men's volleyball team has been predicted to finish third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, by a vote of conference coaches.

The Cardinal, coming off its best season since 1997, went 21-11 last season and are expected to finish behind only USC and UC Irvine, the teams that met in last year's NCAA final.

Stanford returns all but one starter, including first-team All-Americans Kawika and Erik Shoji. If the Cardinal does indeed finish third, it would mark the team's highest finish since 2001. Stanford finished fourth last season, going 14-8 in MPSF play.

Stanford hopes to reach the NCAA final four, which will be held at Maples Pavilion on May 6 and 8.

The following are the results of the MPSF preseason coaches' poll (with first-polace votes in parentheses):

1, USC (5)
2, UC Irvine (5)
3, Stanford
4, BYU (1)
5, Pepperdine
6, UCLA (1)
7, Long Beach State
8, Cal State Northridge
9, Hawai'i
10, UC Santa Barbara
11, UC San Diego
12, Pacific