Stanford wins berth in MPSF final

In two previous meetings with No. 4 Hawaii this year, the No. 1 Stanford men’s volleyball team came away with sweeps. Last night, with a spot in the finals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament on the line, the Cardinal (21-6, 16-6 MPSF) once again pulled off a sweep of the Warriors (19-10, 14-8), though it was by no means a walk in the park.

The 30-24, 30-28, 33-31 victory puts Stanford into the finals, and it likely guarantees the Cardinal a spot in the four-team NCAA Tournament.

Both teams came out of the gate shaky, with the 14 straight side-outs to start the first set. Sophomore middle blocker Gus Ellis broke this streak with a kill to give Stanford an 8-7 lead. With Ellis serving, the Cardinal scored four consecutive points to build a 15-10 lead and never looked back. Senior setter Kawika Shoji highlighted the first set with a perfectly executed dump for a kill followed by a block that led to a Hawaii timeout. Hawaii outside hitter Joshua Walker whiffed on a hitting attempt at set point to give the first set to Stanford, 30-24.

The first set featured important contributions from all four of Stanford’s All-Americans. Sophomore outside hitter Brad Lawson had six kills and a dig in the first set, while sophomore libero Erik Shoji made several diving digs. Both were recently named First Team All-Americans, along with Kawika Shoji. Senior opposite Evan Romero, who was named to the Second Team, had six kills and three digs.

The second set proved to be much closer. A slam-dunk kill by Lawson after digs by both Shojis highlighted a four-point run for Stanford as the Cardinal opened up a 6-2 lead, forcing an early Hawaii timeout. The Warriors came back to tie Stanford at 13, led by its two All-Americans, Walker and opposite Jonas Umlauft. Hawaii gained its first lead of the set at 20-19 on an error by junior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin. Both teams traded blows, as the two teams tied at 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 28. After a Romero kill gave Stanford a set point, junior libero Jordan Inafuku came in to serve. Hawaii looked to have won the point when middle blocker Matthew Rawson easily spiked the ball into the middle of the court, but Rawson was ruled to have touched the net and Stanford won the set, 30-28.

As Hawaii players continued to complain to the officials, the third set began with a Cardinal run that seemed to put the game away. Stanford jumped out to a 9-3 lead, punctuated by a sprawling dig and assist by Erik Shoji that led to a McLachlin kill. With the score 11-5, Hawaii showed fight for the first time in the set, scoring five consecutive points to get back in it. The run began after the referees incorrectly determined that a Stanford attempt was untouched, much to the dismay of Cardinal players and coaches.

With Stanford’s players now visibly frustrated, Hawaii took its first lead of the set at 15-14. Miscommunication between Cardinal players led to the Warriors taking a two-point lead at 23-21. The teams traded points after that, although not without more controversy. Kawika Shoji appeared to have kept a ball alive that could have tied the set for Stanford, but the referee ruled that it had hit the equipment, so the Warriors were awarded the point at 26-24. Hawaii was on the verge of its first set victory of the season against Stanford when it took a 29-27 lead.

The Cardinal did not give in, though. Stanford won each of the next two points to tie the score at 29 and force a Hawaii timeout. The Warriors had two more set points at 30-29 and 31-30, but the Cardinal eked out points to tie it up. Stanford took its first lead since 19-18 when Walker’s attempt went wide at 32-31. On the first match point, Umlauft’s attempt hit the antenna to give the Cardinal the win.

Stanford was once again led by Romero and Lawson, who each tallied 18 kills. The player of the match, though, was probably Kawika Shoji, who had five kills on seven attempts, 49 assists and 13 digs. Senior middle blocker Garrett Werner added a match-high seven blocks.

Hawaii was led by Umlauft and Walker, who combined for 31 kills and 10 digs. The two also combined for 18 errors, which was more than Stanford had as a team. Setter Nejc Zemljak had 47 assists, two aces and 12 digs, while outside hitter Steven Hunt added 13 kills.

Hitting was a strength for the Cardinal, which leads the nation in that category. A hitting average of .531 in the first set led Stanford to a .374 average for the match, while Hawaii hit .252. The Cardinal also out-blocked the Warriors 12 to 8.5, but Stanford owed its success to its back-row play.

“The key to the win was passing,” said assistant coach Chris McLachlin. “We really passed well, and without passing you can’t do anything.”

Stanford once again benefited from a riotous home crowd of 1,350 at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal will have home-court advantage again when it takes on No. 3 Cal State Northridge, who took down No. 2 BYU in a five-set thriller just before Stanford took on Hawaii.

The winner of the final will win the MPSF Tournament and clinch an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Even if Stanford does not win, the Cardinal are very likely to secure the lone at-large berth on the strength of its No. 1 national ranking and No. 1 finish in the nation’s top conference. By making the final of the conference tournament, Stanford has all but guaranteed its spot in next week’s NCAA Tournament, which will also take place at Maples Pavilion.

“Everyone is talking about the ’97 team [Stanford’s last national championship team] and the parallels between the two,” said volunteer assistant coach Daniel Rasay. “I think we’ve done a good job staying focused and maintaining our goals.”

Stanford’s ultimate goal of a national championship is just three wins away. The next step is Saturday’s MPSF Tournament final against Cal State Northridge, which will take place at Maples Pavilion at 7 p.m.