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All-American outside attacker Taylor Sander provided the offense and the BYU crowd provided the raucous atmosphere to help keep the Cougars undefeated in conference play.
Sander had a match-high 18 kills and five blocks as No. 5 BYU defeated No. 8 Stanford 25-20, 19-25, 25-23, 25-21 on Friday in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,248 people at the Smith Fieldhouse.
Along with his offensive performance, Sander’s serving helped secure the victory. Sander with score 24-23 in the third game had the game-winning ace to give the Cougars a one-game lead.
Sander, the 2013 Volleyball Magazine National Player of the year, was one of three BYU (5-2, 5-0 MPSF) players finish the match with double-digit kills. Opposite Carson Heninger had 12 kills, while outside attacker Josue Rivera added 11 kills and a team-high 10 digs.
BYU out-hit Stanford .347 to .325, including having a match-best .586 attack percentage in the final game to clinch the conference home win.
Stanford outside attacker Steve Irvin in the loss had a team-high 15 kills. In addition, outside attacker Brian Cook had 13 kills and led all players with 13 digs.
With this victory, BYU extended its winning streak to five matches. The Cougars also remain in first place in the MPSF and are one of three undefeated teams remaining in MPSF play.
This is Stanford’s third consecutive road conference loss after jumping to No. 1 in the national coaches poll last week. The Cardinal (3-3, 0-3 MPSF) will conclude its conference opening road trip with a match against Cal Baptist on Saturday.