Stanford’s Paul Ratcliffe became the first Div. I coach to win national coach of the year three times in four years.
The architect of the Cardinal’s undefeated season that led to the school’s first NCAA title last month received the award late Friday night in Kansas City, Mo., by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Ratcliffe’s recognition came on the day that three of his seniors were among the seven first-round selections in the Women’s Professional Soccer draft. Stanford midfielder Teresa Noyola also won the MAC Hermann Trophy as the sport’s top player last week.
Stanford’s new men’s coach Jeremy Gunn also was named coach of the year after leading UNC Charlotte to its first championship game in school history, falling to North Carolina in the NCAA title match.
Ratcliffe, who played at UCLA, has built one of the country’s top programs. Stanford is 95-4-4 in the past four years when it advanced to the College Cup each season. Ratcliffe was coach of the year in 2008 and ’09.
Diving
The Cardinal took home five of six titles the Stanford Diving Invitational — a the three-day event — including the men’s 1- and 3-meter springboards by Kristian Ipsen.
Ipsen and Stephanie Phipps were winners again on Saturday, with Ipsen scoring a 455.80 in the 3-meter to defeat teammate Noah Garcia (344.65), and Phipps winning with a 294.20 over Cal’s Molly Hayes 268.90 in the 1-meter.
Stanford’s Taylor Sishc and Cal’s Tyler Pullen finished 1-2 in the men’s 10-meter platform on Sunday.
Men’s volleyball
Eric Mochalski set a Stanford match record for hitting percentage Saturday in the No. 4 Cardinal’s 25-19, 25-11, 25-21 nonconference victory over No. 14 Loyola-Chicago at Maples Pavilion.
Mochalski, a sophomore middle blocker, hit .833 — with 10 kills and no errors in 12 attacks — to break the mark for the rally-scoring era (since 2001). Craig Buell held the record of .824 in a 2003 match against UC Irvine.
Stanford (3-0) hit .468 as a team, with three players hitting better than .450 with at least 10 kills. The others were Brian Cook (12, .474) and Brad Lawson (11, .474).
Gymnastics
Ashley Morgan and Nicole Pechanec both earned scores of 9.9 to help lead the Stanford women’s gymnastics team to a victory at the season-opening NorCal Quad Meet women’s gymnastics victory at Burnham Pavilion on Sunday.
The Cardinal scored 194.900 points, followed by San Jose State (194.300), Sacramento State (191.575), and UC Davis (190.775).
SJSU established a school record for a first-meet score.
Stanford’s Morgan earned her fifth consecutive 9.9 to win the floor exercise, and Pechanec earned a 9.9 to win on the uneven bars. Stanford (3-0) also captured an individual victory in the vault, with Pechanec tying teammate Nicole Dayton at 9.825.
San Jose State’s Thomasina Wallace won the all-around with a score of 39.150, edging Morgan (39.075).
Wrestling
The 22nd-ranked Stanford wrestling team (6-5, 3-0 Pac-12) posted a 23-17 road win over No. 18 Cal Poly (3-3, 2-2). At 174 pounds, Stanford’s Nick Amuchastegui, ranked No. 1 in the nation, registered an 8-0 major decision to improve to 14-0.
Cal Poly’s Boris Novachkov (Fremont High-Sunnyvalle) scored a 10-1 major decision at 141.
