"Worst to first."

A reminder sits above Brad Lawson’s bed. He sees it every morning when he wakes up.

It’s a picture of the 2010 Stanford men’s volleyball team that won the school’s second national championship, four years after finishing 4-24 and last in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Lawson and teammate Erik Shoji are sophomores in the photo, joined by Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani), Jordan Inafuku (Kamehameha), Spencer McLachlin (Punahou), Max Halvorson (Punahou), Chandler Kaaa (Kamehameha-Hawaii) and the rest of the Stanford team.

Also in the photo is a group of recruits hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of that championship team.

Those same recruits are now sophomores who regularly enter Lawson’s dorm room just to see the photo.

"Everyone comes in my room and sees it," said Lawson, now a senior and captain of the fifth-ranked Cardinal. "It’s a celebration type thing but it’s also motivational for everyone trying to get back to that."

Stanford begins the stretch run toward the playoffs this weekend with its final two road matches at Pepperdine and USC.

The Cardinal are one of five teams within two games of first place in the MPSF. Stanford finishes the season with five straight at home before the tournament begins April 21.

"That’s how our conference pretty much always is," said Erik Shoji, a 2008 Punahou graduate and younger son of University of Hawaii women’s head coach Dave Shoji. "You have to practice hard and always be ready or you’re probably going to lose."

Stanford has had three weeks to stew over its loss to Hawaii on March 7, which dealt a heavy blow to the Cardinal’s hopes for a No. 1 seed in the MPSF tournament.

Due to finals week, Stanford will have 23 days between games.

"I kind of like it actually," said Lawson, a 2008 ‘Iolani alumnus and two-time All-American who leads the team averaging 4.00 kills per set. "You get a chance to rest the body, you can still train if you feel the need to train, and then get back at it here for the next month starting against Pepperdine."

Lawson and Shoji are joined by Kaaa and redshirt freshman Scott Sakaida, a 2010 ‘Iolani graduate.

They follow in a long line of All-Americans from Hawaii, including McLachlin, Kawika Shoji and Mike Lambert, who was on Stanford’s first national championship team in 1997.

Lawson is the sixth player in Stanford history to win at least two AVCA All-America honors and was the MPSF player of the year as a sophomore.

Shoji is just the second Cardinal to win AVCA All-America honors three times as the team’s starting libero.

He set the school’s all-time record for digs during his junior year and has blown the previous high out of the water this year averaging 2.42 per set.

"It’s been a bit of a roller coaster, but it’s gone by so fast," Shoji said. "I remember coming in as a freshman playing with my brother like it was yesterday and now my senior year is already here."

Both hope to play overseas once they graduate in June. Kawika Shoji currently plays in Germany but Lawson said he’s hoping for either Italy or Spain.

"I can speak Spanish and I enjoy Italian food," he said.

Shoji hopes to play anywhere he can. He last played with his brother at the World University Games in China last summer.

"It was amazing — kind of like a mini Olympics — with almost every country there," Shoji said. "You got to put in your work and compare it to how others play and work and make adjustments.

"It was just an awesome experience."