PROVO — Backed by a new BYU all-time record of 24.5 team blocks, the BYU men's volleyball team (16-7, 12-6 MPSF) tallied its sixth-straight win with a 3-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara (10-13, 7-10 MPSF) Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
"This was the first time UCSB has been swept this year, so we were happy to get another win tonight," said BYU head coach Shawn Patchell. "We did a great job tonight on our blocks and had multiple players step up into their respective roles to come out on top."
Sophomore Futi Tavana tallied a new BYU all-time record with 15 total blocks, a season- and career-high. Junior Kevin Sagers came off the bench to hit lights out, posting 18 kills on 24 attempts with three errors. He tallied a season-high .625 hitting, tying his career-high. Senior setter Reed Chilton finished the night with 45-of-51 assists, adding two service aces to tie his career-high and set a new season high.
Sophomore Robb Stowell ended the match with 15 kills on .407 hitting while senior Andrew Stewart had 11 kills.
After trading the first three points in set one, the Gauchos tallied three two-point stints to go up 9-5. After a Stewart three-kill comeback knotted the score at 17, 18 and 19, the Cougars got down again. Even a 6-1 run ending at 27-all wasn't enough for the Cougars to grab a shutout. UCSB went on to win the set 30-27.
"In set two I think we jumped on it early, having nice serving and getting them out of their systems," said Patchell. "We did a great job blocking and the team responded very well to the changes we made."
With Kevin Sagers off the bench for the second set, the Cougars posted an 8-1 run sparked by four kills from the junior. Unable to catch up, BYU put away the Gauchos 30-17 with a final kill from Stowell.
Nine team blocks in the third set carried the Cougars once again to victory, Tavana leading the way with six blocks. Starting the set out with a 6-1 run with kills from Tavana, Sagers and Stowell, the Cougars got out in front early. With back-to-back 4-0 runs, the Cougars found themselves with a nine-point lead at 16-7. Continuing to pull away, Chilton ended the set with his second service ace of the night at 30-18.
Trading points almost the entire fourth set, BYU posted a 4-0 run ending at 25-20 with two kills from middle blocker Russell Lavaja. The Gauchos tallied a 3-0 run to try to hold off the Cougars, but a kill from Stowell at match point gave the Cougars the set at 30-27 and the match at 3-1.
The Cougars next travel to Long Beach State Thursday and Friday to take on the 49ers at 8 p.m. MT both nights.