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There will be another Sander at BYU following the 2014 season.
BYU coach Chris McGown announced Thursday that Brenden Sander, the brother of All-American outside Taylor Sander, was among the five high school seniors who signed national letters of intent to join the Cougars starting in 2015.
Brenden Sander, a 6-foot-5 inch outside attacker from Huntington Beach, Calif., has been named the VolleyballNow Player of the Year the last two years. He also has earned back-to-back All-Tournament Team honors at the most recent USA Volleyball Junior National Championships.
His older brother Taylor Sander has emerged as one of the top players in BYU history. In his first three seasons with the Cougars, Taylor Sander has been a three-time All-American selection and was selected as the 2013 Volleyball National Player of the Year.
“Brenden is a young man that we have wanted here at BYU since we met him four years ago,” McGown said in a statement. “He’s already developed into a very accomplished player, with solid fundamentals and great court vision. He has the physical gifts to be one of the best outsides in the country, and we are excited to help him expand his potential. He’s a young man of very good character as well and will be a wonderful fit for the culture we have been building here at BYU.”
Along with Brenden Sander, BYU also received official commitments from Zach Eschenberg, Chandler Gibb, Christian Rupert and Erik Sikes to round-out the team’s early signing class.
Eschenberg, a 6-foot-6 outside attacker from Newbury Park, Calif., has earned multiple honors playing both indoor and beach volleyball. The high school senior received first-team all-conference honors the last two seasons, while also earning a spot at the HP National Beach Tournament earlier this year.
Gibb, a 6-foot-1 setter from Huntington Beach, Calif., was selected to the 2013 Southern California All-Star Team. In addition, Gibb during the summer earned All-Tournament honors at the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships.
Rupert, a 6-foot-7 middle attacker from Chalfont, Pa., was two-time All-State selection and earned a spot on the U.S. Boys Youth National Team training roster the last two years. He also was named to Volleyball Magazine’s 25 Underclassmen to Watch list.
Sikes, a 6-foot-1 libero from Coto de Caza, Calif., helped guide the U.S. Boys Youth National team to a third-place finish at the 2012 NORCECA championships and was named the best receiver and second-best defender at the international tournament. As a high school junior last season, he also was a 2013 Orange County Dream Team selection.
BYU finished last season winning its first MPSF championship in almost 10 years and reached the NCAA championship match before losing to UC Irvine.