BYU gamers swarm Jon Stanley after scoring the match-winning level in opposition to Pepperdine on the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse in Provo. The Cougars stored their house unblemished file intact with a victory over Stanford on Friday, April 14, 2023. Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information
BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead secured his one hundred and fiftieth profession victory since taking on the Cougars’ program Friday evening at Smith Fieldhouse. Jaren Wilkey, BYU Picture
The sixth-ranked BYU males’s volleyball crew defeated No. 8 Stanford Friday night, coming again within the fourth set to take down the Cardinal.
When many groups would throw within the towel and transfer to a fifth set, the Cougars stored combating, incomes considered one of their most vital wins of the season.
“We don’t need to give (our opponents) any hope. We’re on a roll. We’re a drive to be reckoned with.” — BYU senior setter Heath Hughes
BYU remained unbeaten in Provo, utilizing set scores of 25-20, 19-25, 25-21 and 26-24 to take action.
“I shouldn’t have anticipated something different than simply to battle,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead mentioned. “It’s two carbon copy groups.”
BYU entered the match simply forward of the Cardinal within the nationwide rankings at No. 6, the Cougars’ highest rating this season, and tied with Stanford in second place within the MPSF standings behind second-ranked UCLA.
Regardless of profitable final yr’s conferences in opposition to BYU, the Cardinal got here to Provo as underdogs, winless within the Smith Fieldhouse over the past seven years.
That streak was prolonged Friday because the Cougars stored their unblemished house file intact and snapped Stanford’s four-match win streak.
“We don’t need to give (our opponents) any hope,” senior setter Heath Hughes mentioned. “We’re on a roll. We’re a drive to be reckoned with.”
Stanford went toe-to-toe with BYU within the first set, with the 2 groups combining for 17 ties by the point they reached 19.
They went back-and-forth earlier than BYU took over, scoring eight of the ultimate 9 factors to safe recreation one.
The Cougars’ spectacular closeout got here on the heels of a 4-1 Stanford run and gave BYU its largest lead of the set.
Sophomore center blocker Teon Taylor gave the Cougars a lift on protection, stifling Stanford with 5 blocks within the preliminary set.
The Cardinal took the air out of the constructing to begin the following set, starting issues with a service ace and utilizing a 9-0 run to take a 17-7 benefit.
The Cougars introduced the gang again to life by an 8-1 run that put them inside three, however Stanford squelched BYU’s comeback hopes, finishing a wire-to-wire set win by scoring 4 of the final 5 factors.
“It was a bit of messy,” Hughes mentioned, “however the good thing (is) we type of discover methods to win, and we did that. Individuals are available off the bench they usually assist us out in essential instances.”
The Cougars carried out nicely in essential moments to win one other tight battle following intermission, distancing themselves from the Cardinal because the third set wore on.
BYU took a slim lead halfway by and by no means relinquished it. Off the bench, freshman exterior hitter Trent Moser led the Cougars to a 2-1 set benefit, incomes six kills and three blocks within the third set.
The fourth set regarded bleak for BYU after it fell behind 14-20, however that’s when the Cougars’ heroes emerged.
BYU regained management of serve earlier than inserting Jon Stanley, the crew’s specialist from behind the road, and placing the ball in his palms.
“The combat of our crew … it’s obtained one identify: Jon Stanley,” Olmstead mentioned. “I’ve misplaced monitor of the fairytale endings that (he’s) created.”
Olmstead can add one other one to the record after turning to Stanley sooner than traditional within the remaining set.
The senior magician helped dig his crew out of a seemingly insurmountable gap and lower the Cardinal result in two, and Hughes stored the Cougars alive from there, making the troublesome play of stepping beneath the web, exterior the antenna, and hitting the ball again to his teammates. Sophomore exterior hitter Luke Benson completed the play off with a kill, preserving BYU inside hanging distance at 20-22. Hughes accomplished the night from the service line, serving to the Cougars cap off their 12-4 run to stun Stanford.
“It’s simply our guys type of doing what they’ve performed all yr,” Olmstead mentioned.
What they've performed this yr is win, and Olmstead has been the mastermind behind the substitutions and modifications which have stored his crew rolling because the season nears its finish.
Friday, the eighth-year head coach earned his one hundred and fiftieth profession win since taking on BYU’s males’s volleyball program.
“It implies that I’ve been lucky to be round plenty of nice folks,” Olmstead mentioned. “It’s nearly so many great folks: coaches, employees, all these those that assist us be the perfect program we will be, after which the gamers.”
The varsity’s gamers did simply sufficient Friday to place themselves in a fantastic place to probably finish the yr with an ideal house file and earn a second-place end within the MPSF heading into the convention’s match.
These accomplishments can be further candy for a BYU squad that was picked to complete one spot out of final place within the MPSF coaches ballot.
The Cougars will get that probability after they face the Cardinal within the regular-season finale Saturday night on the Smith Fieldhouse starting at 7 p.m.
The competition can be broadcast reside on BYUtv.
BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead secured his one hundred and fiftieth profession victory since taking on the Cougars’ program Friday evening at Smith Fieldhouse.
Jaren Wilkey, BYU Picture