Stanford’s Lawson is conference, national volleyball player of week

Stanford senior Brad Lawson (‘Iolani ’08) was named conference and national men’s volleyball Player of the Week by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the American Volleyball Coaches Association for his performance in a pair of road victories over ranked teams last weekend.

Lawson, a 6-foot-7 outside hitter, combined for 40 kills, nine digs, five aces, four blocks and a .352 hitting percentage to lead Stanford to a weekend sweep at No. 9 Long Beach State and No. 11 Cal State Northridge.

He had 21 kills against Long Beach State and 19 against Northridge. His 21 kills were a season-high for the two-time All-American and helped No. 4 Stanford improve to 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the MPSF.

In the final two sets of a five-set victory over Long Beach State, Lawson had eight kills and no errors for a .571 hitting percentage. He also served five consecutive points, including two aces, in the fourth set. Lawson received the Sports Imports/AVCA Men’s Division I-II National Player of the Week award for the fourth time in his career.

Also, Erik Shoji (Punahou ’08) added a match-high 13 digs and five assists in a four-set victory over Northridge. Sophomore Scott Sakaida (‘Iolani ’10) also had two digs for the Cardinal.