STOCKTON -- The fourth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team picked up its first conference victory of the 2011 season with a 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 25-16, 25-21) victory over the Pacific Tigers, Friday.

Juniors Robb Stowell and Futi Tavana recorded season-high kills and season-high hitting percentages on their way to victory against the Tigers with 20 and 12 kills, respectively. Stowell hit .444 while Tavana recorded a .600 hitting percentage with zero errors.

Neither team took more than a one-point lead during the first set until the Tigers took the 26-24 victory on back-to-back kills from Chaz Hindsley and Matthew Houlihan.

The Cougars (4-2) took the second, third and fourth sets for the match victory and first win in conference play this season.

Set two featured a 3-0 run by the Cougars, sparked by two kills from Robb Stowell, to give them the 25-21 victory.

BYU dominated set three, 25-16, thanks to an 11-0 BYU run featuring three kills from freshman Taylor Sander.

Match point came to the Cougars on a Tiger attack error in the fourth set after Stowell led with five kills to secure the victory.

The Cougars had 11.5 blocks to Pacific's 7.5 and hit .309 while limiting the Tigers to .182. Pacific's Taylor Hughes recorded 16 kills, hitting .237, as the only player for the Tigers in double digits.

The weekend match-up between Pacific and BYU continues tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. PT in Tiger territory.

The No. 4 men's volleyball team will travel to California this weekend to compete against the Pacific Tigers on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 21 and 22, at 7 p.m. PT.

BYU’s offense is led by freshman Taylor Sander with 71 kills and a .340 hitting percentage. Joe Kauliakamoa has already recorded 137 assists in five matches and also leads the team with 24 digs. The Cougars outblocking its opponents 65 to 24, on average.

In their last outing the Cougars lost both of their matches to the defending national champions, the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal, on their home court. BYU had three players in both matches recording double-figures kills with Sander and Robb Stowell leading the way.

Last season, the Cougars swept the Tigers in both matches against them in Provo and now lead the series 25-5.

The Tigers host BYU with a 3-1 overall record, coming off their most recent match against Indiana Purdue that ended in a Pacific loss. Pacific’s Taylor Hughes leads the attack with 52 kills on the season, hitting .284. Teammate Sean Daley is hitting .571.

Gametracker will be available through the MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE PAGE for both matches.

Current AVCA Divison I-II Coaches Poll

1. USC

2. Stanford

3. UCLA

4. BYU

5. UC Santa Barbara

6. Pepperdine

7. UC Irvine

8. Long Beach State

9. Penn State

10. Ohio State

11. Cal State Northridge

12. Ball State

13. Hawai'i

14. Loyola-Chicago

15. UC San Diego