Image
Ht
6'
3"
Class
Senior
Hometown
San Juan,
Puerto Rico
Last School
Colegio San Ignacio de...
Roster Years
2011-2015
Personal
- Son of Samuel Rivera and Maria Apavicio
- Has two brothers
- Favorite book is My Sister's Keeper
- Enjoys going to the beach, movies, other sports and hanging out with friends
- Graduated high school with first honors
- Also participated in track and field in high school
- Also recruited by IPFW, UCLA and Penn State
Before BYU
High School:
- Played for Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola under head coach Henry Rivera
- MVP
- Top-10 player in school league
- MVP at the all-star game of all the schools in Puerto Rico
Club/National Teams & Tournaments:
- 2007 participant on the Jr. Olympics with Borinquen Coqui Club, finished in second place. Named to the All-America Team.
- Won the 2007 Festivol Circuit Tournament of Beach Volleyball in PR
- 2007 captain of the Pre-Youth Puerto Rican National Team that participated at the High Performance Tournament in Florida
- Finished 2nd place in 2008 at the Pre-Youth NORCECA at FIU with the Youth Puerto Rican National Team
- 2009 captain of the Pre-Youth Puerto Rican National Team at the Youth World Championships in Italy
- 2009 participant at the Pan-American Cup in Mexico with the Puerto Rican National Team B where they finished in 4th place
- Played at the Junior Olympics (18-open) with the Vaqueros Club in 2010
- 2011 participant at the Pan-American Cup in Canada with the Puerto Rican National team B
- 2011 captain of the Puerto Rican Youth National Team that finished fourth at the Youth Pan-American Cup in Panama
- Played with the Puerto Rico National Team in 2011 at the Youth World Championships in Brazil
BYU Hall of Fame
Freshman Year
2012
- Named to the All-MPSF Freshman Team
- Played in 118 sets and all 31 matches, starting 30
- Finished the season with 257 kills, 606 attempts and a .256 hitting percentage (ranked 34th in the NCAA)
- Also contributed 17 aces, a team-high 186 digs and 70 blocks
- Season-high 20 kills came on Jan. 6 against Loyola-Chicago
- Season-high 4 aces came on Mar. 23 against long Beach State
- Season-high 15 digs came on Feb. 25 against UC Santa Barbara
- Season-high 6 total blocks came on Feb. 11 against UC San Diego
Sophmore Year
2013
- All-MPSF Honorable Mention
- MPSF all-tourament team
- MPSF Scholar Athlete
- Played in every match except one
- Finished the season with 228 kills, 19 aces, 123 digs and 84 total blocks
- Second on the team in aces and third in kills and attempts
- Recorded a double-double against #7 Long Beach State Feb. 1 (13 kills/11 digs) and #5 Stanford Feb. 23 (12 kills/13 digs)
- Tied a career-high six block assists vs. CSUN Feb. 2
- Carried BYU past UCLA in the MPSF quarterfinals with a season-high 19 kills and .483 hitting percentage, while adding six total blocks
Junior Year
2014
- Played in 29 matches, only sitting out vs. UC San Diego due to injury
- Started 23 matches
- Contributed eight kills, three assists, eight digs and four blocks vs. No. 1 Long Beach State (Jan. 11)
- Had 12 kills and season-high 12 digs at No. 7 UC Irvine (Jan. 17)
- Recorded a double-double of 11 kills (.308 hitting), 10 digs, with two blocks and two aces vs. No. 6 Stanford (Jan. 24)
- Had 15 kills (season high), eight digs, three blocks at No. 5 USC (Feb. 1)
- Led team with 13 kills on .579 clip, three aces, four digs at Pacific (Feb. 14)
- Had 12 kills, three aces, eight digs at No. 8 Stanford (Feb. 15)
- Had nine kills on .438 clip, six digs, five blocks vs. No. 8 UC Irvine (Mar. 14)
- Had 11 kills, four digs, four blocks vs. No. 9 UCLA (Mar. 29), helping BYU clinch the No. 1 seed in the MPSF tournament
- Had 12 kills, two aces, three digs, four blocks at No. 10 Hawai’i (Apr. 4)
- Recorded 10 kills, six digs, six blocks at No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (Apr. 11)
- Had 12 kills, .407 clip, four digs at No. 10 UCLA (Apr.12)
- Had 10 kills on .588 hitting (career high), six blocks vs. USC in the MPSF quarterfinals (Apr. 19)
- Had 10 kills, 11 digs, five blocks vs. Stanford in NCAA semifinals (May 1)
- Totaled 217 kills, 26 aces, 146 digs, 76 blocks (three solo) on the season
Senior Year
2015
- Added nine kills, 16 attempts and six digs vs. Cal Baptist in first match of the season (2/6)
- Collected 11 kills, six digs and five blocks vs. USC (2/12)
- Was injured throughout most of the season
Graduate Year
Redshirt Year
2011
Redshirted
Medical Redshirt Year
2011
Redshirted
- M Volleyball | Mar, 23
No. 1 BYU sweeps No. 4 LBSU on the road
- ImageM Volleyball | Mar, 09
Sander breaks ace record, leads BYU to 3-1 victory
- ImageM Volleyball | Mar, 08
Sander leads BYU to 3-0 sweep of Cal Baptist
- ImageM Volleyball | Mar, 01
Cougars complete comeback at #1 UC Irvine
- ImageM Volleyball | Mar, 01
Cougars complete comeback at #1 UC Irvine
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 07
Late run propels BYU over UCSB in five sets
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 02
No. 1 BYU bounces back with win over No. 9 Northridge
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 01
No. 1 BYU falls to No. 7 Long Beach State in five-set thriller
- ImageM Volleyball | Jan, 18
Taylor Sander leads No. 3 BYU to 3-1 victory over No. 1 UC Irvine
- ImageM Volleyball | Jan, 12
#2 BYU sweeps #13 Lewis in rematch
- ImageM Volleyball | Apr, 24
Cougars Travel for MPSF Semifinals
- ImageM Volleyball | Apr, 21
BYU Advances with 3-2 Victory
- ImageM Volleyball | Apr, 14
Volleyball Nets Senior-Night Sweep
- ImageM Volleyball | Mar, 13
Cougars Hit The Road, Head To Hawaii
- ImageM Volleyball | Mar, 09
Tavana Breaks Block Record in Win
- ImageM Volleyball | Mar, 03
Cougars Earn First Match Sweep At Home
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 28
Waves Roll Into Provo On Friday & Saturday
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 28
Waves Roll Into Provo On Friday & Saturday
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 24
Cougars Grab Victory At Home Against UCSB
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 24
Cougars Grab Victory At Home Against UCSB
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 22
Two More At Home for Volleyball
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 22
Two More At Home for Volleyball
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 18
#3 BYU Wins Fourth Straight over Cal Baptist
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 18
#3 BYU Wins Fourth Straight over Cal Baptist
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 15
FIrst of 8-Straight Home Matches This Weekend
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 15
FIrst of 8-Straight Home Matches This Weekend
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 11
5-Set Road Win for #3 BYU
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 11
5-Set Road Win for #3 BYU
- ImageM Volleyball | Feb, 09
Road Victory for #3 BYU Volleyball
- ImageM Volleyball | Jan, 21
#1 Volleyball Sweeps Weekend With USC
- ImageM Volleyball | Jan, 20
No. 1 BYU Defeats No. 5 USC At Home
- ImageM Volleyball | Jan, 07
Cougar Sweep Finishes California Tournament