The No. 11 Stanford men’s volleyball team (2-0) will travel to Provo, Utah this weekend, where it will take on the No. 1 BYU Cougars (2-0) for consecutive games on Friday and Saturday.
While the sample size is small, the Cardinal have started off the season strong. After a year of tribulations and rebuilding, Stanford wanted to start this year right and has done so thus far in wins against No. 14 Ball State and IPFW last weekend. But now, facing the No. 1 team, the Cardinal must truly muster all of their efforts if they want to come out with some wins.
Last year, the two teams met in a similar fashion, with two games in early March, both at Maples Pavilion. Stanford, at this point in time unranked, beat the then-No. 4 BYU in both games.
“We probably played the most complete volleyball all season last year against them,” senior outside hitter Madison Hayden said. “Last year, everyone on the team played well. This year we’re going to have everybody play to the best of their ability.”
The season having just started, there is only so much to glean from each team’s statistics so far this season: BYU has accumulated 89 kills this season, while Stanford has 102, illustrating a strong offensive tactic from the Cardinal. On the other hand, BYU has forced 51 errors from opponents, beating Stanford’s 40. These numbers predict a tough match for the Cardinal offense, which has not had much trouble so far.
Stanford is also working through the addition of five freshmen to its team. These additions constitute almost a third of the team, creating some different dynamics from the previous year. Freshman Jordan Ewert has already contributed to the team, starting both games as an outside hitter.
“It’s always sort of a process getting the freshmen acclimated,” said Hayden. “It’s important to get all of them on the same kind of team culture that we have tried to establish and get them on board as quickly as possible.”
Looking to the weekend, the Cardinal will have to pay special attention to BYU opposite hitter Ben Patch, who has averaged a .317 attack percentage with 439 kills in his two-year career. His efforts were one of the main factors in the Cougars’ recent win against No. 3 Loyola-Chicago.
Opposite hitter Tim Dobbert is another big threat in the BYU arsenal. The sophomore faced an injury last year and was unable to play for part of the season. He has established himself well in the beginning of the season, tallying 13 kills against No. 14 George Mason.
The Cardinal, though, will be ready to retaliate with a strong defense. Hayden has already had 16 digs in two matches, followed closely by Gabriel Vega with 12 digs. The Cardinal defense has also had a number of blocks, 10 of which have come from senior middle Conrad Kaminski. If the Cardinal can continue to rely on their stars, they will be poised to upset the No. 1 team in the nation.
While the wins would be great for obvious reasons, there is a bit more resting on this pair of games. After a poor start to the beginning of last season, one or two big wins would make a statement about this year’s Stanford team.
“Last year we had a rough start to the season, and I think this year we have a lot of veteran returning players,” Hayden said. “And having a season under our belts for starting and kind of understanding what it takes to win is really what got the ball rolling in the right direction this year.
“I think we’ve done a lot better job, at least so far, fighting through adverse situations. That’s going to be huge for this entire year.”
The matches will be played on Jan. 15 and 16, both games being slated for 6 p.m. starts.
Contact Laura Sussman at laura111 ‘at’ stanford.edu.