The Brigham Young University (BYU) men’s volleyball team, ranked No. 8, defeated No. 14 Stanford in four sets (25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-21) on April 22 at the Smith Fieldhouse.
The win advances BYU further in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament and highlights their strong defensive performance with a total of 13 team blocks—the third most they have recorded in a single match this season.
Stanford struggled with service errors throughout the match, committing a season-high of 23 and allowing BYU to limit them to just 32 points through the first two sets. AJ Cottle contributed significantly for BYU with ten kills at a .769 hitting percentage and nine blocks—his second-most ever in a single match—as well as two digs. After the game Cottle said, “Losing twice to Stanford a month ago hurt a lot. It gave us a lot to look at. We have transformed into a whole different team since that first matchup. Our dynamic changed, and we were able to fix a lot of problems. We came ready for a rematch tonight.”
Cole Hauser made his first career start for BYU and posted season-high numbers with nine kills, nine digs—a personal best—and tied his career high with four blocks. Senior Tyler Herget led the team with ten digs and added an impressive forty-three assists along with one kill; he is now just five assists away from reaching fifth place all-time for assists in program history.
Connor Oldani was another key player for BYU, leading the team with thirteen kills while also recording four blocks, an ace, and two digs. Gavin Chambers added six kills on .500 hitting efficiency alongside four blocks and one dig.
BYU started each set strongly: opening runs helped establish early leads that forced multiple timeouts from Stanford’s side throughout the night as they tried to regain momentum but ultimately could not overcome their own errors or BYU’s defense.
Looking ahead, BYU will face top-ranked UCLA on Thursday evening at Smith Fieldhouse.
