It was a long time coming for Stanford, whose seniors endured a 3-25 freshman season and before this year had never won a post-season match. Romero believes that his team's ability to peak at just the right time was due to a lot of hard work and a little good luck with a dash of destiny thrown in.
Their rise to the top was foretold three years ago by their late assistant coach, friend and mentor Al Rodrigues who assured the last place team that they would go from "worst to first." Though they couldn't quite grasp it, the team made the phrase their mantra and Kawika said they hoped and they dreamed he was right. Then they did everything in their power to make it happen. For Shoji that included taking few days off and watching eight hours of video a week with brother Erik to prepare.
Rodrigues passed away from stomach cancer just last March and the team paid homage to him with two white letters on their right sleeves which simply read "AL."
Rodrigues didn't get to see his team complete the journey he predicted, but 11 days before he died the team visited him in the hospital and was able to bring him the news of their brand new national No. 1 ranking. Rodrigues wasn't the only personal loss the team endured this year. Several other family members of the Stanford players passed on as well, which Coach Kosty believes kept the team grounded throughout the season.
But despite the adversity, everything fell into place for Stanford as soon as the playoffs neared. In the last regular season match of the year they closed out the season with one more match win than BYU. That earned them the conference title and secured home court for the entire playoffs. In the post-season, they rolled through team after team beating all but one of their five opponents on the road to the title in just three sets.
So here they were, in the moment they'd been waiting for and hoping for and dreaming of, surrounded on their home floor by all their friends, family and fans. They ran one-by-one through a human tunnel of costumed students who had stormed the court for their victory lap. They did it.
Evan Romero called the ride his team took this season a “fairy tale.” After a story as compelling as this one, it seems a shame to close the book.
