Cougars Fall in Four

PALO ALTO -- The BYU men's volleyball team lost a four-set match (23-25, 17-25, 26-24, 22-25) to Stanford on Saturday, allowing the Cardinal a weekend sweep.

"Stanford played a great match and our passing struggled at times against a tough Cardinal serve," said BYU interim head coach Rob Neilson. "I was proud of our effort, but we need to improve as a team in a lot of areas in order to attain our goals. This was a humbling experience, and our team is hungry to get back to work."

Three Cougars recorded double-digit kills with Robb Stowell's 16 leading the pack. Taylor Sander had 14 and Futi Tavana had 11.

BYU struggled in sets one and two, allowing Stanford to take the early lead, but fought back in the third to extend the match.

In set three, the score was back-and-forth until two kills from Sander put BYU in the lead where they would stay to finish out the set. Sander had six kills in the third.

Stanford took set four in a close 25-22 final.

The Cardinal hit .412 compared to BYU's .275 on the night. Brad Lawson led Stanford with 19 kills, hitting .467.

Continuing in conference play, the Cougars will travel to Stockton, Calif., to compete against the Pacific Tigers on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 21 and 22, at 7 p.m. PT.