PROVO -- With solid play from start to finish, the BYU men’s volleyball team (19-7, 14-6 MPSF) swept Cal Baptist (18-9, 8-1 NAIA) Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse 3-0.

"I was proud of the way that the guys came out in the first set," said BYU head coach Shawn Patchell. "Cal Baptist is a good team and they beat us the last time we played them. We just got them out of their systems and were able to come out with a W."

BYU was led by sophomore Robb Stowell posting 14 kills at .619 hitting while senior Andrew Stewart tallied 11 kills. Senior setter Reed Chilton chalked up 38 assists and three digs while junior libero BJ Hiapo led the Cougars on defense with eight digs. Russell Lavaja stopped the Lancers on the net with five total blocks.

The Cougars started out the night strong, winning set one 30-17. The Lancers scored the first point, but the Cougars proved to be unstoppable the rest of the set with a 5-3 start and two 4-0 runs. Stewart led the attack in the first set with five kills on .500 hitting, also tallying two digs. Stowell added four kills on six attempts with no errors (.667).

Momentum swung to the Lancers’ favor in set two until BYU pulled away with three-straight kills from Stowell ending at 20-18. Tavana then sparked a 4-0 run to put the Cougars up 24-19. Knotting the score at 29, 30, and 31, the Lancers tried to catch up, but with Chilton back to serve, the Cougars put away set two 33-31.

Stowell led the Cougars with six kills in set two, bringing his total to 10 on the match. He also added three digs while Hiapo tallied four digs.

Cal Baptist got off to a 4-2 run to start set three, but a 5-0 run sparked by a Lancer service error put up BYU 8-5. Chipping away at the score, the Lancers took the lead at 11-10. Trading points until the Cougars posted a 4-0 run ending at 24-21. The Cougars put away the Lancers 30-26 for the set and match.

"We passed better in the third set, but our block wasn't quite there tonight," said Patchell. "We have some things to improve on for tomorrow before we face them again."

The Cougars will be back in action against the Lancers Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
              Cal Baptist vs #2 BYU (Apr 09, 2010 at Provo, Utah)
   Cal Baptist            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  EASTER, Bryce.......  2|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  2|  0| 0  0  0|  0
7  PENNER, Blair.......  3|  0   1   2 -.500| 38|  0   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
9  FITZPATRICK, Joseph.  2|  3   2   8  .125|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
10 BRAZEE, Ricky.......  3|  6   0  11  .545|  1|  0   6|  0|  0| 0  1  1|  0
17 TIEDJOP, Adiel......  3| 10   5  23  .217|  0|  0   1|  1|  4| 0  0  0|  0
29 KHATTAB, Mohamed....  3| 12  10  31  .065|  0|  0   4|  0|  2| 1  1  1|  0
1  SMITH, Sean.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
2  FREITAS, Daniel.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
5  MACNEILL, Mike......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
11 KREUTZIGER, Garet...  1|  3   0   3 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
16 CABRAL, Levi........  3|  7   5  15  .133|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 41  24  94  .181| 39|  1  16|  5| 16| 1  2  2|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10  8  27  .074   SET SCORES                1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  17  7  36  .278   Cal Baptist......... (0) 17 31 26  18-9, 8-1 NAIA
   3  14  9  31  .161   BYU................. (3) 30 33 30  19-7, 14-6 MPSF
   BYU                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  3|  0   2   2-1.000| 38|  0   3|  0|  3| 0  0  1|  0
5  LAVAJA, Russell.....  3|  7   0  10  .700|  0|  1   5|  0|  1| 1  4  0|  0
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  2|  4   2  10  .200|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0
13 STOWELL, Robb.......  3| 14   1  21  .619|  0|  1   5|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  3| 11   4  18  .389|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 1  1  0|  0
17 TAVANA, Futi........  3|  5   2   8  .375|  1|  1   0|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  2|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0
11 SAGERS, Kevin.......  1|  5   2   8  .375|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  5|  1   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
18 HIAPO, BJ...........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 46  14  78  .410| 44|  5  17|  1| 20| 3 11  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.5
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  2  26  .538   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  14  7  26  .269   Date: Apr 09, 2010   Attend: 1418   Time: 1h 44m
   3  16  5  26  .423   Referees: Tom Given, Daphne Nelson, Trent Mano

The No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball team (18-7, 14-6 MPSF) hosts Cal-Baptist (18-8, 8-1 NAIA) for a two-match series on Friday and Saturday nights at the Smith Fieldhouse. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. MT.

The Cougars moved from third to second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation after sweeping then-No. 8 Long Beach State last week. BYU also moved up into second place in the AVCA poll with three first-place votes. The Cougars are 14 points from the Stanford Cardinal in first. With the longest win streak in the Nation at eight, the Cougars have swept their opponents since March 12.

The Lancers are ranked No. 1 in the NAIA after completing a weekend sweep of Cardinal Stritch. They are currently on a four-game win streak.

Series Info

The Cougars and Lancers will be playing for the 12th and 13th times with BYU holding an 8-3 advantage over Cal-Baptist. Last year the Lancers came out with a 3-2 win over the Cougars on Jan. 15, 2009 in Provo. BYU holds an 8-2 record against Cal-Baptist in Provo.

Match Coverage

Live stats are available at the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page at www.byucougars.com. Gametracker can be launched by clicking on the “Live Stats” link for the appropriate game on the schedule.

Coming Off...

Extending its winning streak to eight games, the BYU men’s volleyball team defeated Long Beach State 3-1 Thursday and Friday nights. Although the Cougars started out hitting -.065 as a team in the first set, by set four they improved to .500. One block shy of the previous week’s record-breaking performance of 24.5 team blocks, the Cougars posted 23.5 team blocks to defeat the 49ers. Leading the Cougars on the attack as well as defense was sophomore Robb Stowell with 19 kills at .389 hitting, nine blocks (career-high) and 11 digs on Thursday; and 26 kills at .657 hitting and 11 digs on Friday. Thursday Stowell was one block away from a triple-double. Both nights he posted double-double performances, bringing the count to three on the season and five in his career. Thursday sophomore Futi Tavana posted 12 blocks (two solo) while senior Andrew Stewart chalked up 10 kills, eight digs and five blocks. On Friday, Stewart helped Stowell on the attack with 21 kills of his own, adding five digs and seven blocks. Senior setter Reed Chilton tallied 63 assists to help the team hit at .460. Tavana finished Friday night with eight kills on .636 hitting and eight blocks while senior Kevin Sagers also tallied eight kills on .429 hitting.

Stowell Gets Honor

Sophomore opposite hitter Robb Stowell was named AVCA National Player of the Week and MPSF Player of the Week April 5 after recording a double-double each night to lead to a pair of 3-1 wins at then-No. 8 Long Beach State. With stellar all-around play, Stowell led the Cougars with 19 kills at .389 hitting, 11 digs, two service aces, and nine blocks on Thursday. One block away from a triple-double in his all-around performance, Stowell tallied his second double-double of the season and the fourth of his career Thursday. On Friday, he posted 26 kills, tying his career record, set a new season high in hitting percentage at .657, while adding 11 digs for his third double-double of the season and the fifth of his career.