PROVO, Utah – Taylor Sander and Robb Stowell led the BYU men’s volleyball team to a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18) over Cal State Northridge, Friday, at the Smith Fieldhouse to complete the weekend sweep of the Matadors.

"I wasn’t sure why we started slow tonight," BYU head coach Chris McGown said. "We just made some mistakes. I thought we had good energy, good focus and were doing the right things. We just served poorly and received poorly enough times that it hurt us a little. But eventually the guys were able to find some rhythm."  

Sander recorded a match-high 21 kills and finished with a .562 hitting percentage. Stowell added 17 kills and a season-high .484 while Russ Lavaja recorded eight kills. BYU hit .475 for the match compared with .230 for the Matadors.

The Cougars finished with 14.5 total team blocks, 11.5 more than CSUN. The Cougars also had 12 more assists and 19 more digs than the Matadors.

The first set was controlled early by BYU before CSUN took its first lead at 13-12. BYU regained the advantage at 17-16 but quickly went down 19-17 and were unable to regain the lead. Sander let the set with six kills but the Matadors finished with a .259 hitting percentage compared to BYU's .172.

Sander had another six kills in set two and helped the Cougars improve their hitting percentage to .519. The sophomore scored four of BYU’s final six points to help the team close out the set on a 9-2 run to secure the win.

BYU went on an early 5-0 run in set three to take a 10-5 lead. The Matadors were unable to get closer than three for the remainder of the set as the Cougars secured a convincing victory. Sander and Stowell each recorded six hits and the team hit a match-high .708.

CSUN jumped out to a 5-1 lead in set four but the Cougars responded with an 8-0 run to take a 9-5 lead. BYU led for the remainder of the set and put the match away with a seven-point set win. Sander, Stowell and Andrew Heap each had three kills and BYU held the Matadors to a match low .065 hitting percentage.

BYU will continue the season at UCLA next on April 6-7. Both matches are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PST and can be followed at uclabruins.com. 

Quick Look:
COUGARS: 18-5, 14-4
MATADORS : 10-13, 6-10

After two weeks on the road, the No. 4 BYU men's volleyball team returns to the Smith Fieldhouse to host No. 12 Cal State Northridge this Thursday & Friday, March 29 and 30, at 7 p.m. MT. Both matches will be shown live on BYUtv and online for free at byutvsports.com/gameday.

BYU is riding an 18-5 overall record after splitting last weekend’s away matches against Long Beach State, and has won seven of its last eight matches.

Senior Robb Stowell leads the Cougar offense on 291 kills with four other players recording 100+ kills and six more recording double-digit kills. Taylor Sander, Josue Rivera, Russ Lavaja and Futi Tavana have totaled 281, 225, 144 and 128 kills, respectively.

Lavaja leads the team with 132 blocks and is third all-time in BYU history for total blocks.

Tavana is now the all-time blocks leader & block assist leader in BYU’s rally scoring era and is just six away from becoming the solo blocks leader. Joe Kauliakamoa leads the squad with 881 assists.

The Cougars are averaging 3.3 blocks per set compared to their opponents’ 1.7 b/s and are leading the nation in their blocks per set.

The Matadors are coming off a sweep weekend against Hawaii with 3-1 match scores. Julius Hoefer leads the team with 226 kills and four other players join him with 100+ kills. Matt Stork, Brandon Lebrock, Jared Moore and Drew Staker have totaled 178, 172, 115 and 102, respectively. Staker is also contributing a team-high 86 blocks.

The Cougars are 27-22 all-time against CSUN and 16-9 against them at home.

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