PROVO, Utah – Andrew Lincoln had a career-high 10 kills as No. 5 BYU men's volleyball beat Barton in straight sets (25-22, 25-22, 26-24) for the second night in a row Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse.
"We expected that team to play better than they did last night," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "It was good for us to battle through some rough stretches. That's good experience for the guys."
The Cougars improved to 5-1 on the season while Barton fell to 0-5. Gabi Garcia Fernandez joined Lincoln in double-digits with 12 kills. Wil Stanley had three aces and eight digs to lead the Cougars in both categories.
Through the first 10 points, BYU led 6-4 after a Barton service error. Later, back-to-back kills for Price Jarman and Storm Fa'agata-Tufuga made it 12-7 for the Cougars. Fernandez made it another five-point lead at 17-12 with a kill. The Bulldogs battled back to trail just 19-16 before a kill down the line by Fa'agata-Tufuga. Another Barton run made it 23-21 for BYU. A pair of service errors then gave the Cougars their last two points of a 25-22 set win.
Stanley's third ace of the match put BYU up 6-2 early in the second set. A Barton block tied it up at 7-7. The two teams were later knotted up at 10-10 before a Fa-agata-Tufuga kill. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the set at 14-13 to force a Cougar timeout. After trailing 16-14, BYU reeled off five-straight points for a 19-16 lead. Barton narrowed their deficit again to trail just 22-21 before a Fernandez kill. BYU took the set by three points on a Fa'agata-Tufuga ace.
The third set got off to a 7-7 tie before BYU went on a 3-0 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Lincoln. The Bulldogs responded with their own 4-0 run to lead 11-10. Neither team led by more than two points from then on, and Barton took a 21-19 lead late. With the set tied at 24-24, a Bulldog service error made it match point for the Cougars. Lincoln and Jarman came up with the block to seal the set 26-24, and the match 3-0.
BYU plays at UC Irvine next Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. PST, with live streams on BigWest.TV.