PROVO, Utah – No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball took down No. 14 Stanford in four sets (25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-2) behind 48 kills and 13 blocks Wednesday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
The 13 team blocks were the third most in a single match this season for the Cougars.
Stanford recorded a season-high 23 service errors on a night where the Cougars only allowed 32 points through the first two sets.
AJ Cottle recorded 10 kills with a .769 hitting percentage and recorded the second-most single-match blocks of his career with nine. The freshman also nabbed two digs. Trent Moser added nine kills with four blocks and three digs and a service ace.
“Losing twice to Stanford a month ago hurt a lot,” Cottle said after the game, “It gave us a lot to look at. We have transformed into a whole different team since that first matchup. Our dynamic changed, and we were able to fix a lot of problems. We came ready for a rematch tonight.”
Cole Hauser made his first career start, recording a season-high in kills with nine, a career-high nine digs and career-high-tying four blocks. Tyler Herget, a fellow senior, recorded a team-high 10 digs, adding 43 assists and a kill. The Darien, Connecticut product now needs just five more assists to pass Rob Neilson for No. 5 all-time in BYU program history.
Connor Oldani led BYU in kills with 13 while recording four blocks, a service ace and nabbing two digs. Gavin Chambers added six kills on .500 hitting percentage with four blocks and a dig.
Set One
The Cougars started hot, opening on a 3-0 run behind kills from Oldani, Hauser and Moser before the Cardinal got on the board. The teams then went back and forth over the next stretch with Stanford committing back-to-back service errors.
Another Oldani kill then sparked a 4-0 run that featured a kill from Hauser and back-to-back double blocks by the Cougars forcing a Cardinal timeout with BYU leading 12-7.
Out of the break the Cougars picked up right where they left off with a triple block extending the BYU lead to six. Moments later a kill from Oldani opened a 4-1 BYU run highlighted by back-to-back Cougar blocks followed by a service ace from Trevor Herget to give the Cougars a 17-9 advantage.
Stanford then showed some life going on a 4-0 run to come within four which forced BYU to take a timeout. The Cardinal continued to close the gap until a quick-set kill from Cottle put BYU up 21-17.
A Stanford service error later and Cottle recorded another kill off a quick-set from Tyler Herget, prompting Stanford to use another timeout with the Cougars up 23-18. BYU then closed the set behind a service ace from Moser followed by a third Cottle quick-set kill.
BYU came into the match averaging 2.3 blocks per set. The Cougars racked up five in the first set.
Set Two
The Cougars opened with a Cottle roof-block followed closely by an Oldani kill to start the set tied at three apiece. A BYU triple block then sparked a 6-1 run featuring kills from Oldani, Tyler Herget and Cottle, with Cottle also recording a solo block. The BYU hot streak forced Stanford to take a timeout, down 10-5.
The break couldn’t ice the Cougar momentum with Moser immediately scoring on an over-pass kill that opened a 2-0 BYU run giving the Cougars a seven-point advantage up 12-5.
The teams traded short runs down the stretch before the Cougars scored three straight behind kills from Cottle and Moser to give BYU a 18-9 advantage with the Cardinal electing to take yet another timeout.
Stanford then committed its eighth service error of the night allowing the Cougars to take advantage, recording an ace on the next serve to go ahead 20-10. BYU closed the set forcing back-to-back attack errors by the Cardinal and Hauser cratering a kill from the back row to end the set 25-14.
Set Three
Moser led the Cougars out to a 2-1 start recording two kills to open the set. The Cardinal fought back with a 3-1 run of their own, taking their first lead of the match at 3-2, before committing back-to-back service errors knotting the score at five apiece.
After a 3-0 Stanford spurt, a roof-block from Chambers and Moser set up a 3-2 Cougar run featuring a kill from Moser. The Cardinal then took a three-point lead behind a 2-0 run to go up 12-9. The teams traded scores before the media break with the Cougars down 15-12.
Out of the timeout Chambers recorded a kill to jumpstart a 4-0 run that gave the Cougars their first advantage of the set since 6-5, at 16-15. The Cardinal chose to take a timeout down in the third set, facing a sweep.
A Cottle quick-set kill and two pairs of traded service errors later and the score was tied at 19. The Cougars then took the lead after Hauser recorded a kill and BYU forced a Cardinal attack error, forcing a Stanford timeout with the Cougars leading 21-19.
Stanford then scored three straight, including one off of a key coach’s challenge, to take the lead back 22-21 causing BYU to take a timeout. Despite committing its fifteenth service error of the night in the final stretch the Cardinal was then able to close out the set 25-23.
Set Four
BYU came out hot on a 2-0 run behind a kill from Oldani before a Cardinal streak tied the game at four. After another Stanford service error, a solo block from Chambers sparked a 5-1 run that featured a double block from Tyler Herget and Chambers.
Two straight Cardinal service errors later and BYU took a four-point lead after a Cottle kill put them up 13-9. A back-and-forth battle ensued with the teams trading points before another Stanford service error set up a 2-0 run that forced a Cardinal timeout with BYU up 17-13.
The teams then traded kills before two straight BYU scores, featuring an Oldani kill followed by a triple block that caused a Stanford timeout with the Cougars leading 21-16. After a Cottle kill, Stanford opened a 5-2 run that included its first service ace of the night, to tighten the BYU lead to three at 24-2. Stanford followed that up with its 23rd service error of the match which ended the set and the match, with the Cougars winning the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
Up Next
The Cougars face No. 1 UCLA on Thursday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. MST in the Smith Fieldhouse. Streaming will be available on Big Ten Plus.