Freshman setter guides No. 3 BYU volleyball to home upset of No. 1 Long Beach


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PROVO — No. 3 BYU men’s volleyball entered Friday night’s match with a 14-match win streak and playing some of its best volleyball in the nation.

There was only one problem: the Cougars faced the consensus top-ranked team in the country, and Long Beach State had a 14-match win streak of its own.

Not anymore.

Jake Langlois had a team-high 20 kills and 10 digs, including the match-winner, and freshman setter Wil Stanley dished out a career-high 36 assists with five digs to lead the Cougars to a 20-25, 26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 17-15 upset of the No. 1 49ers in front of a standing room-only overflow crowd of 5,213 fans in the Smith Fieldhouse.

“He’s a freshman, and he didn’t show any of that,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said of Stanley, whose previous career-high was 10 kills against UCLA. “He did exactly what we needed him to do. We’ll continue to have him as an option, but it creates a good environment in our gym.”

Tim Dobbert also supplied a double-double with 12 kills and 16 digs for BYU (21-2, 14-1 MPSF).

“All-around, Tim’s done a great job,” Olmstead said. “That’s someone who has had to wait his time, and he’s done a really good job staying focused and staying on task — and he’s been able to come on when we needed him recently.”

It may have been the biggest match of Stanley’s life, but the freshman showed no nerves. After all, he’s seen bigger moments — his older brother is Olympic gold medalist Clayton Stanley, who starred in the family’s native Hawaii from 1997-99.

“I’ve seen the crowds; they’re like this,” Wil Stanley said. “It’s something completely different when you are playing. It was amazing.”

BYU's Jake Langlois hammers a spike into at the Long Beach State defense as they play volleyball in Provo, BYU won 3 sets to 2 on Friday, March 24, 2017. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
BYU's Jake Langlois hammers a spike into at the Long Beach State defense as they play volleyball in Provo, BYU won 3 sets to 2 on Friday, March 24, 2017. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

After the first four sets were deadlocked at two apiece, two of the top three teams in the nation entered a first-to-15 decisive fifth set in a critical match that could decide the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title.

Stanley, who did not start the match but entered in the second set for starter Leo Durkin, dug two balls that led to back-to-back Long Beach attack errors and a 5-2 lead early. But Long Beach’s Bryce Yould, who finished with eight kills and five blocks, fought back with consecutive scores to stop the bleeding, and the 49ers tied the match at 7-7 with a 3-1 run.

After both teams were tied at 12-apiece, Price Jarman smoked one off a tee set by Stanley and Langlois forced match point with his 19th kill of the match.

TJ DeFalco fended off a pair of match points with two of his match-high 25 kills, but the 49ers (21-3, 14-2 MPSF) served seven service errors in the final set in their first loss since Jan. 28 at then-No. 1 Ohio State.

“Coming into a crowd like this is incredible, and to be able to play like we did is incredible,” Stanley said. “Luka (Slabe, assistant coach) and Jalen (Reyes, assistant coach) always tell me to play free and open; I have to be able to run the offense. Once I start playing and get in the groove, then I start to loosen up and it feels like practice to me.”

After both teams went into the break tied at a set apiece, BYU ended an extended rally when Langlois punched a kill off the block and into the stands for an early 6-4 lead in the third set.

The 49ers retook the lead with a 6-2 run, including Kyle Ensing’s block that put the visitors on top 10-9. But BYU had a run of its own, using a 9-1 spurt, including Dobbert’s ace of the match, to take an 18-12 advantage.

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Langlois set Dobbert for his 10th kill of the match, and the Cougars took a 21-16 lead en route to a 25-20 win while holding the 49ers to a .029 hitting percentage in set three by allowing just four kills from DeFalco.

“We all worked on defense a little bit more,” Dobbert said. “He’s their best player, so we focused on him a lot. We tried to get him to go different directions, and even in the back row, we knew that he would be there.

“In difficult situations, they would always try to find him.”

But the 49ers came back.

No team led by more than two in the fourth set until Josh Tuaniga’s block put Long Beach up 23-20 late in the fourth set. The 49ers then ended the fourth set on a 4-1 run to force a decisive fifth set.

The two teams will meet again Saturday at 8 p.m. MDT in the Smith Fieldhouse in the final home match of BYU’s season. The match will be broadcast on BYUtv.

“We didn’t even have to do anything; by the second set, we couldn’t even hear ourselves,” Dobbert said. “It was amazing. Our coach said that’s the reason why everyone comes to BYU — because of these nights. And it’s true. It’s amazing.”

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