STOCKTON -- The fourth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team picked up its first conference victory of the 2011 season with a 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-16, 25-21) victory over the Pacific Tigers, Friday.
Juniors Robb Stowell and Futi Tavana recorded season-high kills and season-high hitting percentages on their way to victory against the Tigers with 20 and 12 kills, respectively. Stowell hit .444 while Tavana recorded a .600 hitting percentage with zero errors.
Neither team took more than a one-point lead during the first set until the Tigers took the 26-24 victory on back-to-back kills from Chaz Hindsley and Matthew Houlihan.
The Cougars (4-2) took the second, third and fourth sets for the match victory and first win in conference play this season.
Set two featured a 3-0 run by the Cougars, sparked by two kills from Robb Stowell, to give them the 25-21 victory.
BYU dominated set three, 25-16, thanks to an 11-0 BYU run featuring three kills from freshman Taylor Sander.
Match point came to the Cougars on a Tiger attack error in the fourth set after Stowell led with five kills to secure the victory.
The Cougars had 11.5 blocks to Pacific's 7.5 and hit .309 while limiting the Tigers to .182. Pacific's Taylor Hughes recorded 16 kills, hitting .237, as the only player for the Tigers in double digits.
The weekend match-up between Pacific and BYU continues tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. PT in Tiger territory.