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Press releaseLA JOLLA, Calif. -- The No. 5 BYU men's volleyball team completed a weekend sweep of No. 14 UC San Diego with a 30-27, 30-23, 30-25 victory Saturday night.
With the win the Cougars improve to 9-4 on the season and 7-3 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, tying with Pepperdine for first-place in the conference standings.
Senior outside hitter Andrew Stewart led all players with 14 kills, hitting .619 on the night. He also added 10 digs, marking his fifth double-double this season. Junior Kevin Sagers recorded 11 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Futi Tavana's 10 blocks helped BYU out-block the Titans 14-to-4.
The competition picked up where it left off on Friday, with even play by both teams. With 18 tied scores and four lead changes in the first set alone, the Cougars recorded 18 kills compared to UCSD's 12.
Set two saw BYU jump out to an 11-6 lead with kills from Stewart, Sagers, Kent Tuttle and Russell Lavaja. Despite several BYU service errors and back-to-back UCSD aces, the Cougars built a five-point lead at 23-18. Three Titan mistakes from the service line down the stretch favored BYU as Sagers and Stewart knocked down kills to claim the second set 30-23.
Tavana's kill and service ace early in the third set sparked a four-point BYU run. Stewart had consecutive kills to put the Cougars up 9-4, while Tavana continued to produce points for BYU, including a kill and solo bock at 15-7. The middle blocker started another 4-0 Cougar run late in the set, capped by an ace from Yamil Perez. Tuttle's eighth kill of the night clinched the 30-25 win and overall victory.
The Cougars will travel for a weekend series against Hawaii on Feb. 26-27 for the final two matches of their four-week road trip.
(Courtesy of BYU Volleyball media relations)
