PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win (25-10, 25-20, 25-20) over Cal State Northridge on Thursday in the Smith Fieldhouse.

"We've talked about winning all week," said BYU head coach Chris McGown. "The guys were chapped after Long Beach and so were the coaches, to be honest. Before this match we said that in this last third of the season we've got to win. This was the night we wanted to start a different mental attitude, different emotion and different energy. I thought the guys were great coming out and executing that plan."

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With a career-high hitting percentage of .750, Taylor Sander led the team with 16 kills on the night. Robb Stowell contributed 11 kills, while Russ Lavaja tallied eight blocks to assist the Cougars in their sweep over the Matadors.

A run of five points put the Cougars at a quick 7-3 lead early in the first set. Stowell tallied four kills to aid the offense, while blocks from Lavaja and Josue Rivera kept the Matadors from scoring too high. BYU coasted through the first set, winning 25-10 for their largest margin of victory this season.

Despite gaining another quick lead in the second set, the Matadors were able to double their kills from the first set and stay within reach of the Cougars. While the Matadors came within one point a few times in the set, BYU kept momentum and never lost the lead.

The Cougars claimed the second set 25-20. Sander contributed the set-high seven kills as well a service ace.

BYU took a litle longer to hit stride in the third set, trailing 8-6. A kill by Sander tied the score and the Cougars were able to take the lead and build to another 25-20 win. Sander recorded another set high with six kills to aide to his impressive hitting percentage.

The Cougars will see Cal State Northridge again tomorrow at 7p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse. 

Quick Look:
COUGARS: 18-5, 14-4
MATADORS : 10-13, 6-10

After two weeks on the road, the No. 4 BYU men's volleyball team returns to the Smith Fieldhouse to host No. 12 Cal State Northridge this Thursday & Friday, March 29 and 30, at 7 p.m. MT. Both matches will be shown live on BYUtv and online for free at byutvsports.com/gameday.

BYU is riding an 18-5 overall record after splitting last weekend’s away matches against Long Beach State, and has won seven of its last eight matches.

Senior Robb Stowell leads the Cougar offense on 291 kills with four other players recording 100+ kills and six more recording double-digit kills. Taylor Sander, Josue Rivera, Russ Lavaja and Futi Tavana have totaled 281, 225, 144 and 128 kills, respectively.

Lavaja leads the team with 132 blocks and is third all-time in BYU history for total blocks.

Tavana is now the all-time blocks leader & block assist leader in BYU’s rally scoring era and is just six away from becoming the solo blocks leader. Joe Kauliakamoa leads the squad with 881 assists.

The Cougars are averaging 3.3 blocks per set compared to their opponents’ 1.7 b/s and are leading the nation in their blocks per set.

The Matadors are coming off a sweep weekend against Hawaii with 3-1 match scores. Julius Hoefer leads the team with 226 kills and four other players join him with 100+ kills. Matt Stork, Brandon Lebrock, Jared Moore and Drew Staker have totaled 178, 172, 115 and 102, respectively. Staker is also contributing a team-high 86 blocks.

The Cougars are 27-22 all-time against CSUN and 16-9 against them at home.

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