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PROVO — BYU men's volleyball coach Shawn Olmstead knew most of what he had on offense in his first year with the team, with "explosive" being the most common word used to describe it.
Ben Patch lived up to those expectations, with 21 kills against then-No. 3 Loyola-Chicago last Friday. Returning top hitter Jake Langlois did, too, with 12 kills against No. 14 George Mason the next night, both 3-1 wins. Michael Hatch at middle blocker, too, who had nine blocks against George Mason on Saturday night in front of a packed Smith Fieldhouse.
But the new, less-experienced players — mostly on defense and setting up plays — "pleasantly surprised" the squad of the now-unanimous No. 1-ranked Cougars (2-0) as they open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play Friday and Saturday against No. 11 Stanford (2-0). Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. MST in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Leo Durkin dished out 44 assists in his first collegiate start against the two-time defending national champion Ramblers, and followed up with 32 against Mason. Likewise, sophomore libero Erik Sikes had six digs a night in the Cougars' opening weekend, and also anchored a back line that had 28 digs against Loyola-Chicago and forced 22 service errors to just seven aces.
"I thought they did really good," Olmstead said. "I thought Leo did a great job setting the offense. I credit Tim for a lot of really good things when he came in. Erik Sikes was very good; he thinks he's better than what he did, but I was happy with what he did. Those guys did a great job."
The passing and serve receiving proved to be even better than some may have expected, Hatch added.
"Passing has never been our strong suit; we've never been spectacular," Hatch said. "But seeing a lot of good passes was great, especially in the middle. I can only get set on good passes. That was a really nice, pleasant surprise."
On offense, the Cougars lived up to their explosive, physical moniker that most outsiders attributed to them in the preseason. They also seemed to be a team that rallied back from losses quickly, as they did in each of the fourth sets after letting one get away early.
"I learned that we're a real physical team, but I guess we knew that. We've got to stay a little more focused when things fall apart," Olmstead said. "All teams kind of know that, but I think we could've stayed a little more composed.
"Nobody got a really big lead, and we were always in it. But I thought we could've stopped some runs a little sooner."
It wasn't all perfect, especially at the service line; BYU made 19 errors to just five aces in the opening match against Loyola. Olmstead plans on cleaning that up significantly with his team.
"We've got to get better there," he said. "Our opponents need to play against us, and we need to keep it on them, to force them to play. We can do better there."
Stanford presents a new challenge, especially in 6-foot-8 senior setter James Shaw. The Woodside, California, native was an all-MPSF honorable mention a year ago, and he dished out 49 assists and five blocks in last week's win over IPWF.
"They're usually pretty fiery, and they have a really good setter in James Shaw," Hatch said. "This is my fourth year playing against him, and he's a really good competitor."
