[Mick]

Losing a senior all-america setter in Kawika Shoji is like losing your QB, like losing Andrew Luck.  Shoji was an extraordinary and gifted setter.  Nothing against the current setter (who should be fine), but you can\'t switch out the best setter in volleyball and not feel it.

I might also mention that freshman pin hitter Brian Cook is playing exceedingly well and starting.  He\'s only been playing serious gym volleyball in a competitive club for the last two years (though he has been a fantastic beach player for a number of years) and has lots of room for improvement.  You might know his sister Karissa plays for the women\'s team at Stanford.

Brian is a local product, which is chiefly interesting because until recently, Northern California hadn\'t turned out many men\'s volleyball stars.  About four years ago, Bay to Bay VBC (HQ\'d in Scotts Valley), sent MB Brandon Williams and L Jerod Keller to Stanford.  This year, Cook was recruited, and next year, MB Matt Aiello will join Stanford along with possibly one other B2B player.

This past year, Bay to Bay produced five D1 players in Cook, Taylor Averill (recruited by UC Irvine, but will play elsewhere next year), Kyle Gerrans at Pepperdine and Jeff Stapleton and Brad Howard at Princeton.  All of the true frosh are getting significant playing time, and Cook, Stapleton and Howard are starting.  Three other players are playing at D3 MIT (Evan Wang) and Springfield (Tommy Crow and Scott McMahan).

[Mick]

Losing a senior all-america setter in Kawika Shoji is like losing your QB, like losing Andrew Luck.  Shoji was an extraordinary and gifted setter.  Nothing against the current setter (who should be fine), but you can\'t switch out the best setter in volleyball and not feel it.

I might also mention that freshman pin hitter Brian Cook is playing exceedingly well and starting.  He\'s only been playing serious gym volleyball in a competitive club for the last two years (though he has been a fantastic beach player for a number of years) and has lots of room for improvement.  You might know his sister Karissa plays for the women\'s team at Stanford.

Brian is a local product, which is chiefly interesting because until recently, Northern California hadn\'t turned out many men\'s volleyball stars.  About four years ago, Bay to Bay VBC (HQ\'d in Scotts Valley), sent MB Brandon Williams and L Jerod Keller to Stanford.  This year, Cook was recruited, and next year, MB Matt Aiello will join Stanford along with possibly one other B2B player.

This past year, Bay to Bay produced five D1 players in Cook, Taylor Averill (recruited by UC Irvine, but will play elsewhere next year), Kyle Gerrans at Pepperdine and Jeff Stapleton and Brad Howard at Princeton.  All of the true frosh are getting significant playing time, and Cook, Stapleton and Howard are starting.  Three other players are playing at D3 MIT (Evan Wang) and Springfield (Tommy Crow and Scott McMahan).