BYU volleyball team sweeps past Pacific — again

PROVO — The No. 5 BYU Cougars were able to sweep (25-21, 25-20, 26-24) the No. 11 Pacific Tigers for the second night in a row in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday.

"I thought we did something in the third set that I haven't seen us do all season long and that is to stay composed in a set when we were getting kind of beat up," BYU head coach Chris McGown said. "With that composure we were able to slowly turn it around and get the win. We've been talking all season about just playing one point at a time and I saw that tonight. We have to keep playing disciplined volleyball."

Taylor Sander posted a hitting percentage of .560, leading the Cougars in kills with 15. Sander was followed closely by Robb Stowell and Josue Rivera who recorded 11 and nine kills, respectively. Stowell also led the team in digs with nine.

Stowell completed his all-around strong performance with five blocks, including one solo block. Russ Lavaja also added five blocks. Setter Joe Kauliakamoa handed out 39 assists in the match.

"This is a team with a ton of heart," McGown said. "I think it really speaks to their mental maturity. They are starting to trust each other and trust our system, and that's getting us wins."

The Cougars got off to a strong start in the first set. Although Pacific stayed within five points of BYU throughout the set, the Cougars were able to gradually distance themselves with strong hitting by the their frontline. They were led by sophomore standout Sander who posted seven kills in the set.