A resilient senior class shines in men’s volleyball

As Stanford men’s volleyball earned a victory against USC on senior night, the families of the nine soon-to-be graduates gathered on the court to celebrate. This year is a historic year for Stanford men’s volleyball, with the highest number of graduating seniors and fifth years leaving the program. But this night almost never happened.

Just four years ago, Stanford announced its decision, later reversed, to cut 11 sports, including men’s volleyball.

“The dedication you have to give to the program is unbelievable and when you come in as a freshman, you just don’t know what you’re getting into,” head coach John Kosty said.

Kosty described the seniors and fifth years as a particularly resilient group and had high praise for everyone. The 17-year Stanford head coach reflected on some of his favorite moments with the seniors and fifth years, including the post-game locker room when they defeated No. 1 seed UCLA in the 2022 MPSF finals, the road trips and playing for a crowd of 9,000 people in Hawaii.

“In that moment, I think there was a fire in our hearts,” Kosty said of UCLA’s win. “We just believe that with this core group of guys we can do a lot, and we have done that for years over the last few years.”

He also described the pure joy on the faces of the seniors and fifth-year students when the program was reinstated after being shut down in 2020.

“We had some great runs with his team and those are the memories I’m going to take with me, along with some others that you know, just the simple ones, just the simple conversations,” Kosty said. .

Senior libero Matt Martinez will always cherish it: “Just being able to go to practice every day and know that you’re going to be playing a sport that you love. And it’s with people who love and care about you as much as you care about them.”

He also discussed his experiences as a walk-on on the volleyball team. He talks about how his volleyball skills and confidence have improved tremendously through his time as an athlete.

“I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. This has been one of the most special moments of my life and I am extremely grateful to coach Kosty for giving me the opportunity to be part of the team,” said Martinez.

The extra year has also provided more opportunities to grow and think about that growth. When fifth-year Nathan Lietzke compares his senior year to his freshman year, he appreciates everything he has learned over the years.

“I would say the most important thing for me was to let go a little bit. I came in a little naive about how difficult it would be to adjust to college and expected the results to be immediate,” Lietzke said. “I have learned to be patient with myself and enjoy the process of maturing and getting better, instead of just focusing on the results and being upset.”

This was echoed by Kosty, who said Lietzke is “always trying to get better.”

One of Lietzke’s favorite moments was giving back to the community he came from.

“I’m from Austin, Texas and there just isn’t a lot of boys volleyball. But my parents helped put together a collegiate showcase,” Lietzke said. “For the last three years, Stanford has gone there. And so I got to play for a bunch of family and friends. And I think that was probably the most special thing for me to just get back to playing, which is something I never thought I would do.

With this extra year of living together in Suites to training diligently on and off the court, the seniors have been able to build an exceptionally close bond.

“I am blessed to be a part of this class. I think these guys have become my best friends over the years and it was a lot of fun spending time with them,” said Lietzke. “Just like all nine of us are really good friends, best friends. But there is so much variation in the interests of the people who make up our group personalities.”

As graduation season approaches, the team hopes to stay in touch.

Graduation discussions are held remotely, because we do not want them to come yet. But we talked about how bittersweet it will be when the year is over,” Lietzke said. “I think the main thing we need to talk about is making sure that after this year we set things up so that we’re constantly in touch with each other and staying in touch and hanging out.”

The men’s volleyball season ended Thursday after a great season in an MPSF loss to Grand Canyon. But Kosty expressed his appreciation for the group and emphasized that it was a festive moment.

“They allow me to grow as a person,” Kosty said. “This group really represented Stanford so well.”