Set One
Stanford gained the first two points in the first set, but the Cougars quickly came back with four of their own, including an ace from Tyler Herget. Following two more from the Cardinal, the Cougars scored seven of the next eight points with kills from Benson, Taylor and Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga. BYU lengthened its lead 11-5, and Stanford took its first timeout.
The Cardinal went on a 6-2 tear following their timeout and forced the Cougars to take their first timeout of the match, still up 13-11. BYU maintained a narrow lead through the next several points, and three kills by Benson, Torres and Taylor put the Cougars up 21-18 and led to another Stanford timeout.
Despite multiple Stanford kills following the timeout, BYU countered with kills from Miks Ramanis, Benson and Gavin Chambers, taking BYU to set point. The Cougars took the first set 25-23 off a Stanford attack error.
In the first set, BYU recorded 12 kills, 12 assists, 16 digs and two blocks, with a .352 kill percentage.
Set Two
The Cougars scored eight of their first 11 points off errors from the Cardinal, the other three off kills by Torres, Benson and Taylor. BYU didn’t gain more than a two-point lead due to multiple Stanford kills, and the Cardinal narrowly led 15-14 going into the media timeout. Ramanis followed the timeout with his first kill of the set, but three-straight points from Stanford forced a timeout for the Cougars.
Stanford reached 20 points first with another kill, but BYU followed closely behind. Two-straight errors from the Cardinal narrowed the team’s lead to 22-20 and led to Stanford’s first timeout of the set. Despite their errors, the Cardinal took the set 25-20 with three-straight points following their timeout.
Set Three
Benson took the first point of the third set with a kill, shortly followed by a kill and an ace by Chambers to put BYU up 4-2. Eight kills from Torres, Taylor, Benson and Tufuga kept Stanford in check and gave the Cougars a 15-12 lead going into the media timeout.
Herget recorded his first kill of the game, and Tufuga served an ace, giving BYU a four-point lead. A kill by Benson and error from Stanford led to the Crimson’s first timeout of the set.
Stanford took three of the next four points, forcing the Cougars to take a timeout. Following the timeout, the Crimson recorded three service errors, putting BYU’s lead at 23-20 and resulting in another timeout for Stanford. The Crimson scored a kill and a block following their timeout, and the Cougars were forced to take their second timeout of the set. Two more Stanford service errors secured the third set for BYU, 25-22.
In the third set, the Cougars hit .240 and totaled 13 kills, 12 assists, ten digs and one block.
Set Four
Torres recorded the first three BYU kills of the fourth set, aiding a 4-3 lead for the Cougars. Three-straight kills from the Cardinal gave them a two-point lead, but Keoni Thiim responded with three kills of his own and took back the lead 9-7. Hales recorded a block and a kill to give BYU a 13-8 lead, and Stanford took its first timeout of the set.
The Cougars maintained their lead 17-12 with kills from Thiim, Taylor and Benson, and Stanford took another timeout. Taylor, Hales and Torres contributed one more kill each, and a serve-and-kill play by Thiim gave BYU a seven-point lead, the team’s largest of the set. Two kills by Benson put the Cougars at set point, and BYU would clinch the match 25-17 off a Stanford service error.
Up Next
The Cougars will face the UCLA Bruins on Apr. 11 and 12 in Los Angeles, CA for its final road matches of the regular season. The match will be streamed live on the Big 10+ Network.
