HONOLULU – Sophomore opposite Ben Patch led No. 2 BYU men's volleyball to its 11th-consecutive sweep (25-20, 25-20, 25-23) at No. 7 Hawai'i Wednesday night.

"I was impressed with our team's composure throughout the night," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "I saw a lot of bright spots, but it's always nice to win as a team."

Patch led the Cougars with 22 kills on a season-high .700 clip to go along with three digs and three blocks. Leo Durkin paced the offense with 44 assists while Erik Sikes chipped in a match-high seven digs. Price Jarman added a career-high tying nine blocks and Jake Langlois contributed 14 kills and five digs in the win.

Kills from Patch and Jarman helped propel BYU (15-2, 11-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) to an early 4-1 lead against Hawai'i (10-8, 5-8 MPSF) in the first set. The Rainbow Warriors fought back within a point down 8-7 before the Cougars went on a 7-1 run, capped off by a pair of Patch and Jarman blocks, to extend their lead to seven at 15-8. Hawai'i then came back with a 7-1 run of its own to rally within a point at 17-16 with help from a trio of blocks. Three more kills from Patch helped BYU go back up by five at 22-17 but three-straight Warriors points kept the set close at 22-20. Patch ended the set 25-20, however, with his ninth kill of the set on the second touch of the rally.

A Jarman kill helped the Cougars go up 5-4 to start a tightly-contested second set. Tied at 11-all, a 4-1 burst from BYU gave the Cougars a 15-12 lead. The set remained close until another Patch kill and block from Langlois and Jarman forced a Hawai'i timeout at 20-16. Tim Dobbert and Jarman teamed up for a block to extended BYU's advantage at 22-17 before a Warrior service error gave the Cougars the set 25-20. 

Hawai'i jumped out to a three-point 8-5 lead early in the third set, forcing Olmstead to take a timeout. Kills from Brenden Sander, Patch and a block from Sander and Hatch tied the set at 13-all. BYU then took its first lead of the set at 15-14 on an overpass kill from Langlois. The Cougars led by as many as three as another Sander kill kept BYU ahead 22-19. A Langlois kill gave the Cougars set point at 24-22 and another Patch kill ended the match 25-23.

The Cougars face off against the Warriors again Friday night in a rematch at the Stan Sheriff Center beginning at 7 p.m. HST. The match will be broadcast live on OC Sports. Links to live stats and video/audio feeds can be found on the BYU men's volleyball schedule page. 

PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball heads to No. 7 Hawai’i this week to face off in a pair of matches on Wednesday and Friday.

Last Time Out

The Cougars (14-2, 10-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) gained their ninth- and 10th-consecutive sweeps over the weekend at home against No. 12 CSUN. Brenden Sander led the squad both nights with a combined 26 kills on a .632 clip.

No. 7 Hawai’i

• BYU will play the Warriors (10-7, 5-7 MPSF) first on Wednesday, March 2, at 7 p.m. HST and then on Friday, March 4, at 7 p.m. HST.
• Hawai’i started the season 9-1 but has since gone 1-6 in its last seven matches – including home losses last week to Long Beach State.
• The Warriors currently sit tied for seventh in the conference standings with CSUN. Hawai’i was picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches’ poll after a 24-7, 18-4 record in 2015.
• The Cougars lead the overall series history between the two schools 36-18 but are just 12-14 when playing at the Stan Sheriff Center. BYU won both matches against the then-No. 1 Warriors last year at home, first in four sets and then in five.

Match Info

Both matches this week will be broadcast live on OC Sports. An ESPN 1420 radio stream will also be available. Links to live stats, video and audio feeds can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.