PROVO, Utah — BYU men's volleyball was put at the No. 13 spot in the first AVCA coaches poll of the 2023 season after defeating McKendree (3-0) and Lewis (3-1) in its opening weekend at home.
The Cougars then enjoyed one week off of games from January 8-14 and are still ranked No. 13 in week two of the AVCA coaches poll. Before this, the Cougars hadn’t been placed in the Top 15 since the week of February 27th, 2022.
BYU will return to the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, January 20th to host Fairleigh Dickinson of Teaneck, New Jersey. It will be the first matchup between the Cougars and the Knights in NCAA men’s volleyball history as it is FDU’s second season as a program.
Fairleigh Dickinson (3-0) opened its 2023 season with six consecutive wins, three of which where exhibition games. Last week, FDU freshman Naveen Fernando earned himself Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Week and Co-Rookie of the Week, the first-ever Knight to garner weekly honors by the NEC. Fernando totaled 10 kills, six total blocks and two solo blocks over six sets played, with 22 total attempts.
Kupono Browne led BYU’s offense in its opening week with 25 kills on a .463 clip and seven service aces. Against Lewis, Browne recorded four aces, nearly breaking his PR for most aces in a single match of five.
Friday's match will be streaming on the BYUtv app at 7 p.m. MST and Saturday's match will be live on BYUtv at 7 p.m. MST.