No. 2 BYU sweeps past the Eagles

PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball defeated Concordia in straight sets (25-15, 25-19, 25-20) at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday to extend its winning streak to 14 matches.

Concordia vs. BYU Final Box Score

“We passed really well tonight and it allowed us to get the ball to our middles,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “It opens up things for our offense as a whole and that’s something we like to focus on when we can. We’re very thankful for the fans that came out tonight. We’ve always done everything we can to show our gratitude toward our fans and it meant the world to us that they were here tonight.”

The Cougars continue to build on the second-best start to a season in program history with their 14th-consecutive win of the year. BYU remains atop the league standings after beating the four MPSF opponents the team has faced so far in conference play.

Opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez led the Cougars in scoring with 10 kills on a .368 clip and three aces while also adding four blocks and three digs to his stat line. Outside hitter Davide Gardini had nine kills on a hitting percentage of .500 and also posted five digs, three blocks and an ace.

Outside hitter Zach Eschenberg had eight kills, four digs and three blocks while middle blocker Branden Oberender had a season-high five kills on a .833 clip in this third start of the season. Libero Mitchel Worthington totaled a match-high nine digs while middle blocker Miki Jauhiainen led both teams with seven blocks on the night.

Set 1
Two kills by Gardini and an ace by Garcia Fernandez put BYU (14-0, 4-0 MPSF) up 3-1 over Concordia (6-9, 1-3) early in the first set. After three-straight Eagle errors, Eschenberg dropped an ace to increase the lead to 11-7. Gardini added an ace of his own and consecutive Cougar blocks extended the advantage to 22-13. A kill by Gardini ended the set to give BYU the 25-15 win. The Cougars hit an errorless .611 in the first game while holding Concordia to a .069 hitting percentage.

Set 2
Garcia Fernandez had a pair of kills as the two teams traded points to start the second set. The opposite hitter connected on two more kills and served his second ace of the match to bring the score to 14-10 in favor of BYU. Eschenberg added two kills to help the Cougars take a five-point lead, 20-15. Following another Garcia Fernandez ace and a kill by Gardini, an Eschenberg kill ended the set, 25-19.

Set 3
Both Gardini and Garcia Fernandez each had a pair of kills as both teams battled back and forth in the third game. Another Gardini kill broke an 8-8 tie followed by a kill by Oberender to take a two-point edge, 11-9. A block by Garcia Fernandez, Jauhiainen and Eschenberg fueled a 5-2 BYU run to make the score 18-14. After two kills by Eschenberg set up match point for the Cougars, an Eagle service error clinched the set and the sweep for BYU, 25-20.

The Cougars will remain at the Smith Fieldhouse to face USC on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. The match will be televised on BYUtv and streamed live on the BYUtv App and byutv.org. Tickets can be purchased on byutickets.com.