LA JOLLA, Calif. (Feb. 9, 2012) - The No. 3 BYU men's volleyball team completed its third sweep (27-25, 25-21, 25-20) of the season against the UC San Diego Tritons on the road, Thursday. 

BYU (7-3, 5-2) senior, Robb Stowell, led all players with 13 kills while teammate Russ Lavaja led all players in the blocking category with six. Freshman Tyler Albertson got his first start of the year against the Tritons and contributed a game-high 10 digs to help lead his team.

Stowell got things started in the first set with a kill to kick off the action. The Cougars took a 5-3 lead from there but the Tritons fought back, eventually tying the set at 12-all before taking a 17-13 lead and forcing BYU to play catch up. The Cougars responded with four-straight points to tie the score. The teams tied again at 24-all and 25 before two-straight points for BYU gave them the 27-25 victory in the first set.

BYU took an early 6-2 lead in the second set behind kills from Josue Rivera and Stowell, plus a few Triton errors. From there BYU kept up the intensity and took the 25-21 final in the second, giving them the 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third and final set, the Cougars and Tritons kept it close early but eventually BYU took a 6-3 lead behind kills from Joe Kauliakamoa, and some block assists from Lavaja and Albertson. UCSD came back to tie the set at 10-10 but would never again get closer than one point from the Cougars as BYU finished the set 25-20 and completed the match sweep. 

The Cougars are now 31-0 all-time against the Tritons. 

BYU and UCSD will meet again on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 1 p.m. PT.

The No. 3 BYU men's volleyball team heads to California this Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 9 and 11, to take on UC San Diego as it looks to build on its 30-0 all-time record against them. 

Live stats and live video are available for both matches through the UCSD's schedule page or by clicking here through the BYU men's volleyball schedule page.

The Cougars are looking to bounce back after two home losses against No. 7 Stanford. The team is without sophomore Taylor Sander but senior Futi Tavana has returned, ready for action. Tavana led the Cougars against the Cardinal with 24 kills and a .564 hitting percentage in the two matches.

Robb Stowell’s 106 kills so far this year lead the team with Josue Rivera, Russ Lavaja, Tavana, Quentin Smith, Andrew Heap, Joe Kauliakamoa and Steve Rindfleisch all joining Stowell in double-figure kills.

BYU is out-blocking its opponents 104.5 to 58.0 this season and are currently fourth in the NCAA with total blocks per set.

The Tritons are led by Carl Eberts’ 105 kills and 27 blocks with teammate Vaun Lennon following closely with 103 kills of his own for this season. Mike Brunsting leads with 306 total assists. UC San Diego is 3-7 on the season with its most recent win coming just last weekend against Hope International on the road.

The Cougars leads the overall series 30-0 against the Tritons and are 14-0 against them when playing on the road.

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