[Mick]

Stanford Men's Volleyball, currently ranked #8, a program that had been incinerated by Mr. Muir several years ago, only to come roaring back on the strength of alumni and related party investments, is today 4-0. They beat British Columbia twice in exhibition matches, beat St. Francis at Stanford in two consecutive matches and recently beat #10 ranked UC Santa Barbara in two consecutive matches, 3-0 and 3-2.

Stanford is very mature, starting chiefly seniors or redshirt seniors. They're tall (every starter except the libero is between 6'6" and 6'8") and they're skilled, but they need reps. Here's a recap:

Will Rottman, Sr. outside hitter and Theo Snoey, a frosh opposite on the other side (from the Head-Royce school in Berkeley) were the leading point producers against UCSB. It's the early season, and they had 17 and 10 errors in the two UCSB matches respectively, numbers which will likely clean up as the season progresses. Snoey had 12 digs in the 5-setter.  The other outside hitter was Kevin Lamp, who had 10 kills, 8 digs and three assists in the last match.  Ethan Hill is a 6'7" MB redshirt junior from San Clemente, he added a few blocks, hit decently, 9 kills in 22 attempts. Nathaniel Gates, a Senior MB from La Jolla looks like he's in midseason form, .500 hitting percentage, 10 total blocks, just one error over the two matches. Nathan Lietzke, a senior setter from Austin did well enough. Had six total blocks, 11 service errors. Justin Lui played at libero, 23 digs in eight sets against UCSB. Hes a redshirt senior and has won two consecutive MPSF Defensive Player of the Week awards.

Two in Texas (gostanford.com)
Stanford has had to come back from 2-1 deficits against both St. Francis and UCSB and let's not forget that UCSB is 1-4, so not necessarily a juggernaut. Hopefully, that's just an indication of a team that is eliminating errors and earning to play with each other. Their weekend opponents at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, TX are going to be interesting: #15 Lewis (tomorrow) and #4 Penn State (Saturday). Both matches should be on line, with a link on the Stanford MVB schedule:

2023 Men's Volleyball Schedule - Stanford University Athletics
American Volleyball Coaches Association poll/rankings
Top-10 Win - Stanford University Athletics

[Mick]

Stanford Men's Volleyball, currently ranked #8, a program that had been incinerated by Mr. Muir several years ago, only to come roaring back on the strength of alumni and related party investments, is today 4-0. They beat British Columbia twice in exhibition matches, beat St. Francis at Stanford in two consecutive matches and recently beat #10 ranked UC Santa Barbara in two consecutive matches, 3-0 and 3-2.

Stanford is very mature, starting chiefly seniors or redshirt seniors. They're tall (every starter except the libero is between 6'6" and 6'8") and they're skilled, but they need reps. Here's a recap:

Will Rottman, Sr. outside hitter and Theo Snoey, a frosh opposite on the other side (from the Head-Royce school in Berkeley) were the leading point producers against UCSB. It's the early season, and they had 17 and 10 errors in the two UCSB matches respectively, numbers which will likely clean up as the season progresses. Snoey had 12 digs in the 5-setter.  The other outside hitter was Kevin Lamp, who had 10 kills, 8 digs and three assists in the last match.  Ethan Hill is a 6'7" MB redshirt junior from San Clemente, he added a few blocks, hit decently, 9 kills in 22 attempts. Nathaniel Gates, a Senior MB from La Jolla looks like he's in midseason form, .500 hitting percentage, 10 total blocks, just one error over the two matches. Nathan Lietzke, a senior setter from Austin did well enough. Had six total blocks, 11 service errors. Justin Lui played at libero, 23 digs in eight sets against UCSB. Hes a redshirt senior and has won two consecutive MPSF Defensive Player of the Week awards.

Two in Texas (gostanford.com)
Stanford has had to come back from 2-1 deficits against both St. Francis and UCSB and let's not forget that UCSB is 1-4, so not necessarily a juggernaut. Hopefully, that's just an indication of a team that is eliminating errors and earning to play with each other. Their weekend opponents at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, TX are going to be interesting: #15 Lewis (tomorrow) and #4 Penn State (Saturday). Both matches should be on line, with a link on the Stanford MVB schedule:

2023 Men's Volleyball Schedule - Stanford University Athletics
American Volleyball Coaches Association poll/rankings
Top-10 Win - Stanford University Athletics

[BobK]

Thanks for the update. I hope to make a match at some point

[BobK]

Thanks for the update. I hope to make a match at some point

[fullmetal]

Wish I were free this weekend to see those matches, but I have family obligations!

[fullmetal]

Wish I were free this weekend to see those matches, but I have family obligations!

[Mick]

If you're a casual viewer, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) league quarter-final, semifinal and Championships are at Maples from April 19 through April 22nd. You'll see some of the best VB in the world there.

Between now and then, Stanford hosts two top teams in consecutive weekends Hawaii (2/10-11) and Pepperdine (2/17-18). Northridge (3/3) and UC/Irvine (3/4), then UCLA (3/17-18).  There are others, but those are the best.

[Mick]

If you're a casual viewer, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) league quarter-final, semifinal and Championships are at Maples from April 19 through April 22nd. You'll see some of the best VB in the world there.

Between now and then, Stanford hosts two top teams in consecutive weekends Hawaii (2/10-11) and Pepperdine (2/17-18). Northridge (3/3) and UC/Irvine (3/4), then UCLA (3/17-18).  There are others, but those are the best.

[BACardinal]

https://youtu.be/fSe9qOoifXw

[BACardinal]

https://youtu.be/fSe9qOoifXw

[OCcardinal]

Stanford Men's Volleyball, currently ranked #8, a program that had been incinerated by Mr. Muir several years ago, only to come roaring back on the strength of alumni and related party investments, is today 4-0.

I don't know that other athletic directors facing the same budget problems back then wouldn't also have put men's volleyball on the cutting block. The cuts had to be balanced under Title IX and there are only three traditional Pac 12 colleges that field Men's Volleyball teams (the others being USC and UCLA). It's similar to Men's Wrestling, a sport that only three traditional Pac 12 schools field as well.

I was surprised back then that Stanford got so much national flack for planning to cut these programs when so many other major Div I colleges had already done so (or had chosen not to fund them in the first place). Perhaps it's because Stanford's overall success in athletics makes it a national trend-bearer (especially for sports outside of football and men's basketball). If that's the case then I'd hope the investments that alumni and others (thankfully) have made will do more than just keep these sports alive and successful at Stanford. I'd hope we'll see these sports expanding to more Div I schools.

[OCcardinal]

Stanford Men's Volleyball, currently ranked #8, a program that had been incinerated by Mr. Muir several years ago, only to come roaring back on the strength of alumni and related party investments, is today 4-0.

I don't know that other athletic directors facing the same budget problems back then wouldn't also have put men's volleyball on the cutting block. The cuts had to be balanced under Title IX and there are only three traditional Pac 12 colleges that field Men's Volleyball teams (the others being USC and UCLA). It's similar to Men's Wrestling, a sport that only three traditional Pac 12 schools field as well.

I was surprised back then that Stanford got so much national flack for planning to cut these programs when so many other major Div I colleges had already done so (or had chosen not to fund them in the first place). Perhaps it's because Stanford's overall success in athletics makes it a national trend-bearer (especially for sports outside of football and men's basketball). If that's the case then I'd hope the investments that alumni and others (thankfully) have made will do more than just keep these sports alive and successful at Stanford. I'd hope we'll see these sports expanding to more Div I schools.

[Mick]

Stanford Men's Volleyball, currently ranked #8, a program that had been incinerated by Mr. Muir several years ago, only to come roaring back on the strength of alumni and related party investments, is today 4-0.

I don't know that other athletic directors facing the same budget problems back then wouldn't also have put men's volleyball on the cutting block. The cuts had to be balanced under Title IX and there are only three traditional Pac 12 colleges that field Men's Volleyball teams (the others being USC and UCLA). It's similar to Men's Wrestling, a sport that only three traditional Pac 12 schools field as well.

I was surprised back then that Stanford got so much national flack for planning to cut these programs when so many other major Div I colleges had already done so (or had chosen not to fund them in the first place). Perhaps it's because Stanford's overall success in athletics makes it a national trend-bearer (especially for sports outside of football and men's basketball). If that's the case then I'd hope the investments that alumni and others (thankfully) have made will do more than just keep these sports alive and successful at Stanford. I'd hope we'll see these sports expanding to more Div I schools.

There are 29 D1 teams, up from 26 just last year. There are 31 D2 schools which are eligible to compete in the year end competition, including six historically black institutions, making a total of 60 colleges that offer very high level volleyball. When my son was playing 10 years ago, there was around 45 schools in both D1 and D2.

The NCAA men's championship consisted of just four teams from 1970 to 2013. In 2014, they expanded the championships to six teams, then in 2019 went to seven teams. There is currently a proposal to expand the tournament to twelve teams.

American Volleyball Coaches Association (avca.org)

[Mick]

Stanford Men's Volleyball, currently ranked #8, a program that had been incinerated by Mr. Muir several years ago, only to come roaring back on the strength of alumni and related party investments, is today 4-0.

I don't know that other athletic directors facing the same budget problems back then wouldn't also have put men's volleyball on the cutting block. The cuts had to be balanced under Title IX and there are only three traditional Pac 12 colleges that field Men's Volleyball teams (the others being USC and UCLA). It's similar to Men's Wrestling, a sport that only three traditional Pac 12 schools field as well.

I was surprised back then that Stanford got so much national flack for planning to cut these programs when so many other major Div I colleges had already done so (or had chosen not to fund them in the first place). Perhaps it's because Stanford's overall success in athletics makes it a national trend-bearer (especially for sports outside of football and men's basketball). If that's the case then I'd hope the investments that alumni and others (thankfully) have made will do more than just keep these sports alive and successful at Stanford. I'd hope we'll see these sports expanding to more Div I schools.

There are 29 D1 teams, up from 26 just last year. There are 31 D2 schools which are eligible to compete in the year end competition, including six historically black institutions, making a total of 60 colleges that offer very high level volleyball. When my son was playing 10 years ago, there was around 45 schools in both D1 and D2.

The NCAA men's championship consisted of just four teams from 1970 to 2013. In 2014, they expanded the championships to six teams, then in 2019 went to seven teams. There is currently a proposal to expand the tournament to twelve teams.

American Volleyball Coaches Association (avca.org)

[82 Card]

MVB at UC Santa Cruz starting up at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZRqJhE3dC0

[82 Card]

MVB at UC Santa Cruz starting up at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZRqJhE3dC0

[BobK]

Stanford wins 3-0

[BobK]

Stanford wins 3-0

[Mick]

Stanford wins 3-0

Basically an exhibition game against a longtime Division 3 opponent.  Stanford played mostly freshman starters, and a number of upperclassmen who don't get into games much.

BTW, UCSC is a very good D3 team.  They're 7-1, Stanford is their only loss.  I like UCSC's team, always have. I grew up there, scrimmaged with the men's team, played against them in college (they always had one legitimate D1 player who looked like he was playing a different game). Their coach, Jake Landel, played against my older son for years, very good beach player, and was a terror when he played for UCSC.

[Mick]

Stanford wins 3-0

Basically an exhibition game against a longtime Division 3 opponent.  Stanford played mostly freshman starters, and a number of upperclassmen who don't get into games much.

BTW, UCSC is a very good D3 team.  They're 7-1, Stanford is their only loss.  I like UCSC's team, always have. I grew up there, scrimmaged with the men's team, played against them in college (they always had one legitimate D1 player who looked like he was playing a different game). Their coach, Jake Landel, played against my older son for years, very good beach player, and was a terror when he played for UCSC.

[Mick]

Stanford's ranking increased one spot from #7 to #6 last week. Unfortunately, Stanford lost at unranked Northridge last night, 3-2 (Northridge would be ranked #16 if the rankings went down that far).

Stanford started off well, taking two of the first three sets in relatively convincing fashion, while losing the second set 26-24. Stanford got smoked in the fourth set 25-18 (conditioning issue?) and lost a heartbreaking tiebreaker, 15-13. The match was back and forth with 16 lead changes and 43 tie scores, including 6 and 19 just in the second set.

Northridge looked like the tighter, more disciplined unit, with more assists (63-57), digs (61-52) and kills (64-58), though Stanford had fewer hitting errors (17-22).

The only Stanford hitter who really stood out was middle Ethan Hill (10 kills in 15 attempts), who also let both teams with six blocks. Pin hitters Rottman, Snoey and Lamp all hit between .250 and .290. Northridge's libero had 20 digs, Lui (who's a very fine libero with multiple defensive player of the week awards) had 14.

Stanford plays The Master's University (f/k/a Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary) in a scrimmage on their Santa Clarita campus today at 1 p.m. TMU, incidentally, is not a bad team. They beat Hawaii last fall, and they're 3-0 this year, all three wins by 3-0 scores. Their libero is from Pepperdine, they have a middle from Grand Canyon, and a very young, very dynamic head coach. They should still lose to Stanford, but it'll be closer than you might think.

[Mick]

Stanford's ranking increased one spot from #7 to #6 last week. Unfortunately, Stanford lost at unranked Northridge last night, 3-2 (Northridge would be ranked #16 if the rankings went down that far).

Stanford started off well, taking two of the first three sets in relatively convincing fashion, while losing the second set 26-24. Stanford got smoked in the fourth set 25-18 (conditioning issue?) and lost a heartbreaking tiebreaker, 15-13. The match was back and forth with 16 lead changes and 43 tie scores, including 6 and 19 just in the second set.

Northridge looked like the tighter, more disciplined unit, with more assists (63-57), digs (61-52) and kills (64-58), though Stanford had fewer hitting errors (17-22).

The only Stanford hitter who really stood out was middle Ethan Hill (10 kills in 15 attempts), who also let both teams with six blocks. Pin hitters Rottman, Snoey and Lamp all hit between .250 and .290. Northridge's libero had 20 digs, Lui (who's a very fine libero with multiple defensive player of the week awards) had 14.

Stanford plays The Master's University (f/k/a Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary) in a scrimmage on their Santa Clarita campus today at 1 p.m. TMU, incidentally, is not a bad team. They beat Hawaii last fall, and they're 3-0 this year, all three wins by 3-0 scores. Their libero is from Pepperdine, they have a middle from Grand Canyon, and a very young, very dynamic head coach. They should still lose to Stanford, but it'll be closer than you might think.

[Mick]

Stanford plays The Master's University (f/k/a Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary) in a scrimmage on their Santa Clarita campus today at 1 p.m. TMU, incidentally, is not a bad team. They beat Hawaii last fall, and they're 3-0 this year, all three wins by 3-0 scores. Their libero is from Pepperdine, they have a middle from Grand Canyon, and a very young, very dynamic head coach. They should still lose to Stanford, but it'll be closer than you might think.

Stanford won. They took it seriously, started their starters and substituted liberally, and won 3-0, in 23, 21 and 18.

Next up is #1 ranked Hawaii (7-0), on Friday at Maples at 7 p.m.  Saturday's game vs. Hawaii is at Burnham at 6 p.m.

[Mick]

Stanford plays The Master's University (f/k/a Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary) in a scrimmage on their Santa Clarita campus today at 1 p.m. TMU, incidentally, is not a bad team. They beat Hawaii last fall, and they're 3-0 this year, all three wins by 3-0 scores. Their libero is from Pepperdine, they have a middle from Grand Canyon, and a very young, very dynamic head coach. They should still lose to Stanford, but it'll be closer than you might think.

Stanford won. They took it seriously, started their starters and substituted liberally, and won 3-0, in 23, 21 and 18.

Next up is #1 ranked Hawaii (7-0), on Friday at Maples at 7 p.m.  Saturday's game vs. Hawaii is at Burnham at 6 p.m.

[Mick]

Next up is #1 ranked Hawaii (7-0), on Friday at Maples at 7 p.m.  Saturday's game vs. Hawaii is at Burnham at 6 p.m.

Stanford's ahead in the first set as I write this, 18-16.

Here's the StatCast link: UH 15, STA 18 - SET 1 (statbroadcast.com)

Here's the live video link: Stanford Live Stream-2 | Pac-12

[Mick]

Next up is #1 ranked Hawaii (7-0), on Friday at Maples at 7 p.m.  Saturday's game vs. Hawaii is at Burnham at 6 p.m.

Stanford's ahead in the first set as I write this, 18-16.

Here's the StatCast link: UH 15, STA 18 - SET 1 (statbroadcast.com)

Here's the live video link: Stanford Live Stream-2 | Pac-12

[BostonCard]

Box score shows we lost 3-0, but it was a credible loss against the top team in the country: 22-25, 19-25, 24-26.  Would have been nice to at least take one set, though.

BC

[BostonCard]

Box score shows we lost 3-0, but it was a credible loss against the top team in the country: 22-25, 19-25, 24-26.  Would have been nice to at least take one set, though.

BC

[Mick]

Box score shows we lost 3-0, but it was a credible loss against the top team in the country: 22-25, 19-25, 24-26.  Would have been nice to at least take one set, though.

BC

It's interesting. At this level, the team that makes the fewest errors tends to win; fewest hitting, blocking and receiving errors. Hawaii made 26 errors, Stanford made 36 errors. It didn't show in serving, Hawaii had 16, Stanford had 15. It really showed in hitting, where Stanford had 7 errors and Hawaii had 15.

Stanford has an experienced team. Four of the seven starters are seniors, one is a redshirt junior, one is a junior and one is a freshman. The freshman, Theo Snoey, played very well, 5 errors. Will Rottman had 14 errors, a really rough match for him. 7 hitting errors, 4 service errors and three passing errors -- which at this level, is debilitating. Kevin Lamp had 10 errors, with 4 hitting errors and six kills. Libero Lui only had one error, Gates had zero, Peters had 1, Hill had 1. Setter Lietzke had 4. 

And that's the difference. BTW, Hawaii is going to be tough next year. All their starters are juniors, except for their setter Thelle. And four of Hawaii's starters are from other countries, two from the Greek national team, one from the Brazilian national team and their setter is from the Norwegian national team.

1,700 fans versus Hawaii last night. Tonight's game vs. Hawaii is at Burnham. Hawaii has the nation's longest win streak at 17 in a row.

[Mick]

Box score shows we lost 3-0, but it was a credible loss against the top team in the country: 22-25, 19-25, 24-26.  Would have been nice to at least take one set, though.

BC

It's interesting. At this level, the team that makes the fewest errors tends to win; fewest hitting, blocking and receiving errors. Hawaii made 26 errors, Stanford made 36 errors. It didn't show in serving, Hawaii had 16, Stanford had 15. It really showed in hitting, where Stanford had 7 errors and Hawaii had 15.

Stanford has an experienced team. Four of the seven starters are seniors, one is a redshirt junior, one is a junior and one is a freshman. The freshman, Theo Snoey, played very well, 5 errors. Will Rottman had 14 errors, a really rough match for him. 7 hitting errors, 4 service errors and three passing errors -- which at this level, is debilitating. Kevin Lamp had 10 errors, with 4 hitting errors and six kills. Libero Lui only had one error, Gates had zero, Peters had 1, Hill had 1. Setter Lietzke had 4. 

And that's the difference. BTW, Hawaii is going to be tough next year. All their starters are juniors, except for their setter Thelle. And four of Hawaii's starters are from other countries, two from the Greek national team, one from the Brazilian national team and their setter is from the Norwegian national team.

1,700 fans versus Hawaii last night. Tonight's game vs. Hawaii is at Burnham. Hawaii has the nation's longest win streak at 17 in a row.

[BACardinal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF9Q7MBH...Volleyball

[BACardinal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF9Q7MBH...Volleyball

[Mick]

Virtually identical result, a 3-0 loss in which one set went 25-27.  Rottman played much better, just 8 errors. Stanford had 41 errors overall (up from 36 on Friday), but Hawaii had just 24.

Stanford (7-4) has two home matches against Pepperdine (8-4) next weekend. Should be fairly evenly matched; going into this weekend's matches, both Stanford and Pepperdine dropped two, Pepperdine dropping theirs against UC-Irvine. Pepperdine was #8 going into the weekend.

[Mick]

Virtually identical result, a 3-0 loss in which one set went 25-27.  Rottman played much better, just 8 errors. Stanford had 41 errors overall (up from 36 on Friday), but Hawaii had just 24.

Stanford (7-4) has two home matches against Pepperdine (8-4) next weekend. Should be fairly evenly matched; going into this weekend's matches, both Stanford and Pepperdine dropped two, Pepperdine dropping theirs against UC-Irvine. Pepperdine was #8 going into the weekend.