PROVO -- Showcasing their abilities for over 300 fans, the BYU men’s volleyball team defeated the Alumni in the annual Alumni match Friday night 3-1.
Junior Robb Stowell led the Cougars in the victory with 15 kills, followed by true freshman Taylor Sander with 12, playing a vital role to win set four for the win. Senior Alex DaPron was also in double-digit kills with 11 on the night.
Starting the night for the Cougars included Futi Tavana, BJ Hiapo, Joe Kauliakamoa, Sander, Stowell, Kevin Sagers and Otavio Souza.
In set one the alumni started off with two-straight points, followed by four-straight Cougar points, two from Stowell. Posting four kills and two back-to-back service aces, Stowell led the Cougars on the attack in set one, winning 25-18 to begin the match.
DaPron led the Cougars in set two with four kills while true freshman Taylor Sander had three kills. A 4-0 run ending at 6-4 gave the Cougars the lead for the remainder of the set, winning 25-18.
After the alumni got warmed up, the score was knotted 14 times in set three, the Alumni eventually coming out on top, 27-25 with a kill by Taylor Evans (‘06) to finish it off. DaPron led the Cougars with seven kills in the third.
After the score was knotted at seven, the alumni posted a 3-0 run to establish a two-point lead. BYU came back with four-straight points off of two Stowell kills and back-to-back triple blocks to give the Cougars the lead at 15-14. Sander lit up the rest of the set, posting seven kills to win the set 25-21, and match 3-1.
The Cougars will next travel to the BYU Las Vegas Tournament Nov. 12-13 held at Las Vegas High School for more pre-season play.