PALO ALTO, Calif. — BYU men’s volleyball suffered a 3-0 loss (29-27, 25-20, 25-22) against No. 12 Stanford in the Maples Pavilion on Friday night.
The loss puts BYU’s overall record at 8-13 and 3-6 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
Offensively, Stanford led the night with 47 kills and a total hitting percentage of .420. BYU followed closely behind with 42 kills and had a .299 clip. Defensively, the Cardinal outblocked the Cougars 9.0-4.0.
Stanford’s Will Rottman tallied 18 kills and a .680 hitting percentage. Rottman ranks No. 2 in the NCAA in attacks per set (9.41), No. 7 in kills per set (4.14) and No. 8 in points per set (4.69). BYU senior outside hitter Davide Gardini led BYU with 16 kills and a .533 clip.
SET ONE
The teams started the night with 13 ties, trading points until 17-17. These points included four kills and an ace by Stanford’s Rottman and five kills by BYU’s Gardini.
Kills by BYU freshman outside hitter Miks Ramanis and sophomore outside hitter Kupono Browne, paired with an ace by senior opposite hitter Alex Ah Sue, set the Cougars on a 3-0 run, creating the largest margin of the set at 21-17.
Stanford battled back with a 3-0 run of its own, featuring two aces by Rottman. Browne laid another kill, but two errors by the Cougars tied the set again at 23-23. Ramanis and Browne tallied additional points, but the Cardinal continued to tie the set another four times, thanks to three kills by Rottman. Ultimately, another BYU error sealed the set-win for Stanford at 29-27.
SET TWO
The Cougars racked up a 4-1 lead after a kill by Gardini and two aces by freshman middle blocker Teon Taylor. This advantage quickly diminished after four Stanford kills tied the set at 7-7. While the teams remained tight, two BYU service errors allowed the Cardinal to take its first lead of the set at 10-9.
Browne battled to keep the Cougars in the game, laying down two kills. However, eight kills by Stanford allowed it to maintain a 21-16 lead. In the end, two BYU service errors and Rottman’s 14th kill of the night secured Stanford its second set-win at 25-20.
SET THREE
The foes started the third set with three quick ties by 3-3. The Cardinal broke away with a 3-0 run, including a kill and a solo block by Stanford’s Luke Turner. BYU managed its third service error of the set, widening the gap to 10-6. The Cougars posted another two errors, followed with two kills by Stanford’s Kevin Lamp, giving the Cardinal a five-point advantage at 16-11.
From there, the teams traded kills and errors, including two kills by Browne. Another BYU service error brought Stanford to 20-16. At 24-20, sophomore setter Bartosz Slawinski smashed a kill and tallied an ace. This set off Gardini, tallying his 16th kill of the night. These last-minute efforts reduced Stanford’s lead to 24-22.
A final Rottman kill officially gave the Cardinal its third set-win at 25-22 and won the match.
Up next, the teams face off again on Saturday, April 9 at 6 p.m. PST in the Maples Pavilion.