[Mick]

First match is Friday night versus preseason #5 Ball State. They'll be a challenge. Stanford didn't get a lot of love in the polls, they graduated some very good players and ended up with a #13 preseason ranking.

Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball

Other MPSF team preseason rankings were:

#1 UCLA
#6 BYU
#7 USC
#9 Grand Canyon 
#10 Pepperdine

Stanford had two exhibition matches against Saskatchewan. Oppos Moses Wagner and Theo Snoey were the big hitters. 6'8" frosh MB Kaumana Carreira had six kills and led the team with five blocks in the first match. Kosty spread the love and Ignacio Brito, Soph OH was the big hitter with 11 kills in the second match. 6'3" junior Ryan DuRoss was second with six kills (that's a short OH), but also had 6 errors for a .000 hitting percentage. 6'8" soph MB Gray Mandelbaum had five kills, no errors. 6'0 Hawaiian frosh libero Evan Porter is one of two frosh liberos on the roster and played all seven games. The other libero, Kai Schmitt, played in three of the seven games with just one dig.

[Mick]

First match is Friday night versus preseason #5 Ball State. They'll be a challenge. Stanford didn't get a lot of love in the polls, they graduated some very good players and ended up with a #13 preseason ranking.

Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball

Other MPSF team preseason rankings were:

#1 UCLA
#6 BYU
#7 USC
#9 Grand Canyon 
#10 Pepperdine

Stanford had two exhibition matches against Saskatchewan. Oppos Moses Wagner and Theo Snoey were the big hitters. 6'8" frosh MB Kaumana Carreira had six kills and led the team with five blocks in the first match. Kosty spread the love and Ignacio Brito, Soph OH was the big hitter with 11 kills in the second match. 6'3" junior Ryan DuRoss was second with six kills (that's a short OH), but also had 6 errors for a .000 hitting percentage. 6'8" soph MB Gray Mandelbaum had five kills, no errors. 6'0 Hawaiian frosh libero Evan Porter is one of two frosh liberos on the roster and played all seven games. The other libero, Kai Schmitt, played in three of the seven games with just one dig.

[BACardinal]

Here are the two matches


https://youtu.be/32z7G4-A2aI?si=t7kmHdGwxeDZfbzE

https://youtu.be/Ds-Z4PALX10?si=bp592YVMMLuslC7s

[BACardinal]

Here are the two matches


https://youtu.be/32z7G4-A2aI?si=t7kmHdGwxeDZfbzE

https://youtu.be/Ds-Z4PALX10?si=bp592YVMMLuslC7s

[cardfan77]

Is Rottman injured? I don't believe he played at all against Saskatchewan.

[cardfan77]

Is Rottman injured? I don't believe he played at all against Saskatchewan.

[Mick]

Is Rottman injured? I don't believe he played at all against Saskatchewan.

Could be. Or he had a prior commitment. This was an exhibition, and Kosty played 13 of 16 roster players in the second match, everyone except Rottman and two frosh. Saskatchewan was overmatched, and I suspect Coach Kosty just wanted to spread playing time.

[Mick]

Is Rottman injured? I don't believe he played at all against Saskatchewan.

Could be. Or he had a prior commitment. This was an exhibition, and Kosty played 13 of 16 roster players in the second match, everyone except Rottman and two frosh. Saskatchewan was overmatched, and I suspect Coach Kosty just wanted to spread playing time.

[BACardinal]

Today's match against Ball State 

https://youtu.be/oeTDgwedujM?si=PlZSmvmFM58kCF7u

[BACardinal]

Today's match against Ball State 

https://youtu.be/oeTDgwedujM?si=PlZSmvmFM58kCF7u

[Mick]

#5 Ball State swept Stanford, 22-25, 24-26, 16-25. Oppo Moses Wagner had 14 kills, hit .345, OH Theo Snoey struggled with 11 kills and 9 errors, 7 digs and two assists. Setter Theoren Brouillette had 37 assists, 5 digs, a kill, a block and an ace. Frosh libero Evan Porter had nine digs.

Rottman didn't play. I'm guessing he's injured. Hopefully not for too long.

This is a young team. The starting libero is a frosh, the two middle blockers (Gray Mandelbaum and Kaumana Carreira) are a soph and a frosh, and the other OH, Nate Clinton, is a sophomore. He acquitted himself well, 8 for 13 with three errors, a .385 hitting percentage. Carreira had 4 kills, 7 attempts, no errors and Mandelbaum had the same stats but with one error. Pretty good for the middles.

Stanford had 35 errors (18 attack, 12 serve, 1 block, 4 receiving). 
Ball State had 24 errors (5 attack, 10 serve, 4 block, 5 receiving).

You can see the difference between the teams. Their five main players were two seniors, two juniors and a soph. Also, three of Ball State's best players were international (Ndavazocheva/Zimbabwe, Machado/Brazil, Alleyne/Barbados). They also have players from Canada, Israel and Poland. Stanford has no international players.

Decent start against a very good VBC. Once they iron out the hitting errors, I think they have some strong upside. That's not all on the hitters, btw, you need a strong pass and set to make sure the ball's in position for a kill.

[Mick]

#5 Ball State swept Stanford, 22-25, 24-26, 16-25. Oppo Moses Wagner had 14 kills, hit .345, OH Theo Snoey struggled with 11 kills and 9 errors, 7 digs and two assists. Setter Theoren Brouillette had 37 assists, 5 digs, a kill, a block and an ace. Frosh libero Evan Porter had nine digs.

Rottman didn't play. I'm guessing he's injured. Hopefully not for too long.

This is a young team. The starting libero is a frosh, the two middle blockers (Gray Mandelbaum and Kaumana Carreira) are a soph and a frosh, and the other OH, Nate Clinton, is a sophomore. He acquitted himself well, 8 for 13 with three errors, a .385 hitting percentage. Carreira had 4 kills, 7 attempts, no errors and Mandelbaum had the same stats but with one error. Pretty good for the middles.

Stanford had 35 errors (18 attack, 12 serve, 1 block, 4 receiving). 
Ball State had 24 errors (5 attack, 10 serve, 4 block, 5 receiving).

You can see the difference between the teams. Their five main players were two seniors, two juniors and a soph. Also, three of Ball State's best players were international (Ndavazocheva/Zimbabwe, Machado/Brazil, Alleyne/Barbados). They also have players from Canada, Israel and Poland. Stanford has no international players.

Decent start against a very good VBC. Once they iron out the hitting errors, I think they have some strong upside. That's not all on the hitters, btw, you need a strong pass and set to make sure the ball's in position for a kill.

[cardfan77]

Today's match against Ball State 

https://youtu.be/oeTDgwedujM?si=PlZSmvmFM58kCF7u

Thank you for posting these and rather quickly since I cannot bring myself to pay for another subscription.

[cardfan77]

Today's match against Ball State 

https://youtu.be/oeTDgwedujM?si=PlZSmvmFM58kCF7u

Thank you for posting these and rather quickly since I cannot bring myself to pay for another subscription.

[cardfan77]

Today's match against Ball State 

https://youtu.be/oeTDgwedujM?si=PlZSmvmFM58kCF7u

Thank you for posting these and rather quickly. I cannot bring myself to pay for another subscription.

[cardfan77]

Today's match against Ball State 

https://youtu.be/oeTDgwedujM?si=PlZSmvmFM58kCF7u

Thank you for posting these and rather quickly. I cannot bring myself to pay for another subscription.

[BobK]

Stanford just swept Ball State. Moses Wagner 19 kills hit 419

[BobK]

Stanford just swept Ball State. Moses Wagner 19 kills hit 419

[BACardinal]

1/11/25 match 

https://youtu.be/G70rYBrI-Uc?si=FyotxlavAYDmvlBY

[BACardinal]

1/11/25 match 

https://youtu.be/G70rYBrI-Uc?si=FyotxlavAYDmvlBY

[martyup]

This thread had me confused until I realized that we played Ball State twice.  They swept us in the first match and we swept them in the second match.  How unusual is that?  Did they have a player that got hurt or something?

[martyup]

This thread had me confused until I realized that we played Ball State twice.  They swept us in the first match and we swept them in the second match.  How unusual is that?  Did they have a player that got hurt or something?

[Mick]

That was a fun match. Good crowd too, relatively speaking, 567 in attendance. Wagner's 19 kills were a career high, Theo Brouillette had a career-high 42 assists and a career high eight digs.

Stanford got out to a good start, 25-19 win, then 25-23 and 30-28.

As strong a player as Wagner is, Theo Snoey completely and I mean completely turned around his game. Wagner hit .419, Snoey hit .429 with 12 kills and just 3 errors in 21 attempts. My guess is that Ball State's adjustments were to focus on the middles -- both Mandelbaum and Carreira had a tougher time this match than the first match. Carreira had 4 kills and 3 errors in 10 attempts, Gray had 4 kills, 2 errors in seven attempts. Team stats on Stanford's end weren't all that different, just one fewer error than the first match. Ball State, on the other hand, was forced into 35 team errors, 11 more than the first match.

I think Stanford has some really strong potential. They're a young team, and they're going to rapidly improve. That'll be necessary for their matches against #11 Ohio State and #8 Penn State at the First Point Collegiate Challenge next Friday in Austin, TX. 

Still no sign of Rottman.

[Mick]

That was a fun match. Good crowd too, relatively speaking, 567 in attendance. Wagner's 19 kills were a career high, Theo Brouillette had a career-high 42 assists and a career high eight digs.

Stanford got out to a good start, 25-19 win, then 25-23 and 30-28.

As strong a player as Wagner is, Theo Snoey completely and I mean completely turned around his game. Wagner hit .419, Snoey hit .429 with 12 kills and just 3 errors in 21 attempts. My guess is that Ball State's adjustments were to focus on the middles -- both Mandelbaum and Carreira had a tougher time this match than the first match. Carreira had 4 kills and 3 errors in 10 attempts, Gray had 4 kills, 2 errors in seven attempts. Team stats on Stanford's end weren't all that different, just one fewer error than the first match. Ball State, on the other hand, was forced into 35 team errors, 11 more than the first match.

I think Stanford has some really strong potential. They're a young team, and they're going to rapidly improve. That'll be necessary for their matches against #11 Ohio State and #8 Penn State at the First Point Collegiate Challenge next Friday in Austin, TX. 

Still no sign of Rottman.

[BACardinal]

Today's match against Penn State 

https://youtu.be/qC4YiONTBF8?si=JuxyZbJdDcXXug7s

[BACardinal]

Today's match against Penn State 

https://youtu.be/qC4YiONTBF8?si=JuxyZbJdDcXXug7s

[Mick]

#11 Stanford had two really nice match victories over #13 Ohio State (3-0) and #14 Penn State (3-1) in front of 2,122 and 1,450 spectators respectively.

The match against Ohio State wasn't close, 25-19, 25-14, 25-20. Oppo Wagner returned to his big hitting ways (13 kills, five errors, 21 attempts, .391 hitting %) and soph OH Nate Clinton really stepped up with eight kills, one error in 14 attempts. Frosh MB Kaumana Carreira had three kills in three attempts with three blocks and Soph MB Gray Mandelbaum had two kills, one error in five attempts with five blocks. Not bad. Junior setter Theoren Brouillette had 27 assists to go with three service aces...speaking of which, Stanford had 11 service aces overall against 15 errors. Outstanding.

6'8" Jr. OH Theo Snoey continued to struggle with four kills, four errors in 16 attempts, also had a setting error and four service receive errors, but he had five blocks at the right side. Frosh libero Evan Porter had five digs and two service errors. 6'9" Jr. MB Luke McFall started the third set and had three blocks.

The match against Penn State was closer (25-23, 28-30, 25-20, 25-19) but in no real doubt. PSU focused their defense on Wagner (9 kills, 5 errors, .129 HP), and Snoey rebounded with 15 kills, five errors and a .323 HP. OH Ryan DuRoss had eight kills, 4 errors and a .234 HP. MB Carreira had five kills and just one error in 10 attempts, MB Mandelbaum and MB Luke McFall combined for four kills, two errors in eight attempts.

Stanford's serve wasn't nearly as tight as their serving errors doubled from 15 to 31 and aces cut in half from 11 to 6. And I'm curious to see how frosh libero Evan Porter improves against MPSF opponents, he's done well so far...had 15 digs and two assists against Penn State.

The new volleyball rankings come out tomorrow. Stanford beat #5 Ball State, but only improved one spot in the polls. The Cardinal has now beaten three ranked opponents in a row. #10 Pepperdine has a few wins, but not one over a ranked opponent. #9 Grand Canyon beat #18 George Mason twice, 3-0 and 3-1. #8 Loyola Chicago also beat Penn State at home 3-1, but their score was closer and they've had a few close wins that shouldn't have been close. #7 USC crushed their only ranked opponent, #19 Princeton 3-0. 

So it's difficult to figure out where Stanford "should" come out in the polls. It will be a lot easier two weeks later, as Stanford faces #3 UC-Irvine at Burnham on 1/31 (6 p.m.) and Maples on 2/1 (6 p.m.). Irvine was 20-11 last year, they're 3-0 this year without any wins over ranked opponents. They play #5 BYU this week, then Stanford the week after.

[Mick]

#11 Stanford had two really nice match victories over #13 Ohio State (3-0) and #14 Penn State (3-1) in front of 2,122 and 1,450 spectators respectively.

The match against Ohio State wasn't close, 25-19, 25-14, 25-20. Oppo Wagner returned to his big hitting ways (13 kills, five errors, 21 attempts, .391 hitting %) and soph OH Nate Clinton really stepped up with eight kills, one error in 14 attempts. Frosh MB Kaumana Carreira had three kills in three attempts with three blocks and Soph MB Gray Mandelbaum had two kills, one error in five attempts with five blocks. Not bad. Junior setter Theoren Brouillette had 27 assists to go with three service aces...speaking of which, Stanford had 11 service aces overall against 15 errors. Outstanding.

6'8" Jr. OH Theo Snoey continued to struggle with four kills, four errors in 16 attempts, also had a setting error and four service receive errors, but he had five blocks at the right side. Frosh libero Evan Porter had five digs and two service errors. 6'9" Jr. MB Luke McFall started the third set and had three blocks.

The match against Penn State was closer (25-23, 28-30, 25-20, 25-19) but in no real doubt. PSU focused their defense on Wagner (9 kills, 5 errors, .129 HP), and Snoey rebounded with 15 kills, five errors and a .323 HP. OH Ryan DuRoss had eight kills, 4 errors and a .234 HP. MB Carreira had five kills and just one error in 10 attempts, MB Mandelbaum and MB Luke McFall combined for four kills, two errors in eight attempts.

Stanford's serve wasn't nearly as tight as their serving errors doubled from 15 to 31 and aces cut in half from 11 to 6. And I'm curious to see how frosh libero Evan Porter improves against MPSF opponents, he's done well so far...had 15 digs and two assists against Penn State.

The new volleyball rankings come out tomorrow. Stanford beat #5 Ball State, but only improved one spot in the polls. The Cardinal has now beaten three ranked opponents in a row. #10 Pepperdine has a few wins, but not one over a ranked opponent. #9 Grand Canyon beat #18 George Mason twice, 3-0 and 3-1. #8 Loyola Chicago also beat Penn State at home 3-1, but their score was closer and they've had a few close wins that shouldn't have been close. #7 USC crushed their only ranked opponent, #19 Princeton 3-0. 

So it's difficult to figure out where Stanford "should" come out in the polls. It will be a lot easier two weeks later, as Stanford faces #3 UC-Irvine at Burnham on 1/31 (6 p.m.) and Maples on 2/1 (6 p.m.). Irvine was 20-11 last year, they're 3-0 this year without any wins over ranked opponents. They play #5 BYU this week, then Stanford the week after.

[GK3]

#11 Stanford had two really nice match victories over #13 Ohio State (3-0) and #14 Penn State (3-1) in front of 2,122 and 1,450 spectators respectively.

The match against Ohio State wasn't close, 25-19, 25-14, 25-20. Oppo Wagner returned to his big hitting ways (13 kills, five errors, 21 attempts, .391 hitting %) and soph OH Nate Clinton really stepped up with eight kills, one error in 14 attempts. Frosh MB Kaumana Carreira had three kills in three attempts with three blocks and Soph MB Gray Mandelbaum had two kills, one error in five attempts with five blocks. Not bad. Junior setter Theoren Brouillette had 27 assists to go with three service aces...speaking of which, Stanford had 11 service aces overall against 15 errors. Outstanding.

6'8" Jr. OH Theo Snoey continued to struggle with four kills, four errors in 16 attempts, also had a setting error and four service receive errors, but he had five blocks at the right side. Frosh libero Evan Porter had five digs and two service errors. 6'9" Jr. MB Luke McFall started the third set and had three blocks.

The match against Penn State was closer (25-23, 28-30, 25-20, 25-19) but in no real doubt. PSU focused their defense on Wagner (9 kills, 5 errors, .129 HP), and Snoey rebounded with 15 kills, five errors and a .323 HP. OH Ryan DuRoss had eight kills, 4 errors and a .234 HP. MB Carreira had five kills and just one error in 10 attempts, MB Mandelbaum and MB Luke McFall combined for four kills, two errors in eight attempts.

Stanford's serve wasn't nearly as tight as their serving errors doubled from 15 to 31 and aces cut in half from 11 to 6. And I'm curious to see how frosh libero Evan Porter improves against MPSF opponents, he's done well so far...had 15 digs and two assists against Penn State.

The new volleyball rankings come out tomorrow. Stanford beat #5 Ball State, but only improved one spot in the polls. The Cardinal has now beaten three ranked opponents in a row. #10 Pepperdine has a few wins, but not one over a ranked opponent. #9 Grand Canyon beat #18 George Mason twice, 3-0 and 3-1. #8 Loyola Chicago also beat Penn State at home 3-1, but their score was closer and they've had a few close wins that shouldn't have been close. #7 USC crushed their only ranked opponent, #19 Princeton 3-0. 

So it's difficult to figure out where Stanford "should" come out in the polls. It will be a lot easier two weeks later, as Stanford faces #3 UC-Irvine at Burnham on 1/31 (6 p.m.) and Maples on 2/1 (6 p.m.). Irvine was 20-11 last year, they're 3-0 this year without any wins over ranked opponents. They play #5 BYU this week, then Stanford the week after.

Thanks for the updates.  Too small a sample size to try and figure out where we belong in reality.  Is Irvine really #3 or is that just another too small a sample.  If real, if we split the two matches and having split two with Ball State, we should get a bit more love in the rankings.

[GK3]

#11 Stanford had two really nice match victories over #13 Ohio State (3-0) and #14 Penn State (3-1) in front of 2,122 and 1,450 spectators respectively.

The match against Ohio State wasn't close, 25-19, 25-14, 25-20. Oppo Wagner returned to his big hitting ways (13 kills, five errors, 21 attempts, .391 hitting %) and soph OH Nate Clinton really stepped up with eight kills, one error in 14 attempts. Frosh MB Kaumana Carreira had three kills in three attempts with three blocks and Soph MB Gray Mandelbaum had two kills, one error in five attempts with five blocks. Not bad. Junior setter Theoren Brouillette had 27 assists to go with three service aces...speaking of which, Stanford had 11 service aces overall against 15 errors. Outstanding.

6'8" Jr. OH Theo Snoey continued to struggle with four kills, four errors in 16 attempts, also had a setting error and four service receive errors, but he had five blocks at the right side. Frosh libero Evan Porter had five digs and two service errors. 6'9" Jr. MB Luke McFall started the third set and had three blocks.

The match against Penn State was closer (25-23, 28-30, 25-20, 25-19) but in no real doubt. PSU focused their defense on Wagner (9 kills, 5 errors, .129 HP), and Snoey rebounded with 15 kills, five errors and a .323 HP. OH Ryan DuRoss had eight kills, 4 errors and a .234 HP. MB Carreira had five kills and just one error in 10 attempts, MB Mandelbaum and MB Luke McFall combined for four kills, two errors in eight attempts.

Stanford's serve wasn't nearly as tight as their serving errors doubled from 15 to 31 and aces cut in half from 11 to 6. And I'm curious to see how frosh libero Evan Porter improves against MPSF opponents, he's done well so far...had 15 digs and two assists against Penn State.

The new volleyball rankings come out tomorrow. Stanford beat #5 Ball State, but only improved one spot in the polls. The Cardinal has now beaten three ranked opponents in a row. #10 Pepperdine has a few wins, but not one over a ranked opponent. #9 Grand Canyon beat #18 George Mason twice, 3-0 and 3-1. #8 Loyola Chicago also beat Penn State at home 3-1, but their score was closer and they've had a few close wins that shouldn't have been close. #7 USC crushed their only ranked opponent, #19 Princeton 3-0. 

So it's difficult to figure out where Stanford "should" come out in the polls. It will be a lot easier two weeks later, as Stanford faces #3 UC-Irvine at Burnham on 1/31 (6 p.m.) and Maples on 2/1 (6 p.m.). Irvine was 20-11 last year, they're 3-0 this year without any wins over ranked opponents. They play #5 BYU this week, then Stanford the week after.

Thanks for the updates.  Too small a sample size to try and figure out where we belong in reality.  Is Irvine really #3 or is that just another too small a sample.  If real, if we split the two matches and having split two with Ball State, we should get a bit more love in the rankings.

[BobK]

https://www.avca.org/polls-awards/polls/...egiate-men

Stanford up to 9

[BobK]

https://www.avca.org/polls-awards/polls/...egiate-men

Stanford up to 9

[Mick]

https://www.avca.org/polls-awards/polls/...egiate-men

Stanford up to 9

The top eight shuffled, but none of the teams dropped out. I wonder how long Ball State will remain there with a 3-3 record. Everyone else in the top 10 have either zero or one loss.

MPSF should be very competitive this year. Even with the addition of Vanguard (1-0) and Menlo (2-3), the MPSF's collective preseason record is 29-6.

[Mick]

https://www.avca.org/polls-awards/polls/...egiate-men

Stanford up to 9

The top eight shuffled, but none of the teams dropped out. I wonder how long Ball State will remain there with a 3-3 record. Everyone else in the top 10 have either zero or one loss.

MPSF should be very competitive this year. Even with the addition of Vanguard (1-0) and Menlo (2-3), the MPSF's collective preseason record is 29-6.

[Mick]

BTW, Stanford's MVB opponent tomorrow night (6 pm at Burnham) is UC-Irvine (5-0) which improved its ranking from #3 to #2. They're at Maples on Saturday, also at 6 p.m.

Men's Volleyball 2025 - Stanford Cardinal - Official Athletics Website

[Mick]

BTW, Stanford's MVB opponent tomorrow night (6 pm at Burnham) is UC-Irvine (5-0) which improved its ranking from #3 to #2. They're at Maples on Saturday, also at 6 p.m.

Men's Volleyball 2025 - Stanford Cardinal - Official Athletics Website

[Mick]

This just posted on the Men's VB site: Top 10 Matchups on The Farm - Stanford Cardinal - Official Athletics Website

We know most if it, a few items of interest:

- Games tonight and tomorrow vs. #2 UC Irvine will be streamed on B1G+
- Moses Wagner was the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week in 1/13 for his performances against #5 Ball State
- Frosh libero Evan Porter earned MPSF Defensive Player of the Week in 1/20 for averaging 2.86 digs per set in a pair of wins over Top 15 opponents.
- As a team, Stanford leads the MPSF with 11.69 assists per set and ranks second with 9.00 digs per set. The Cardinal is third in kills (12.38) and aces (2.08), fifth in blocks (2.12) and sixth in hitting percentage (.276).
- Stanford made the MPSF semifinals for the third season in a row, first time in program history and has been in the MPSF tournament in 15 of Kosty's 18 seasons, missing only 2007, 2015 and the tournament was cancelled in 2020.

[Mick]

This just posted on the Men's VB site: Top 10 Matchups on The Farm - Stanford Cardinal - Official Athletics Website

We know most if it, a few items of interest:

- Games tonight and tomorrow vs. #2 UC Irvine will be streamed on B1G+
- Moses Wagner was the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week in 1/13 for his performances against #5 Ball State
- Frosh libero Evan Porter earned MPSF Defensive Player of the Week in 1/20 for averaging 2.86 digs per set in a pair of wins over Top 15 opponents.
- As a team, Stanford leads the MPSF with 11.69 assists per set and ranks second with 9.00 digs per set. The Cardinal is third in kills (12.38) and aces (2.08), fifth in blocks (2.12) and sixth in hitting percentage (.276).
- Stanford made the MPSF semifinals for the third season in a row, first time in program history and has been in the MPSF tournament in 15 of Kosty's 18 seasons, missing only 2007, 2015 and the tournament was cancelled in 2020.