BYU rallies for weekend sweep of Winnipeg

PROVO, Utah – Taylor Sander had 17 kills and Josue Rivera had 11 to lead BYU men’s volleyball to a 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21, 15-11) comeback win over Winnipeg on Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Devin Young finished one kill away from a double-double as he added 10 blocks and Rivera contributed seven blocks. As a team BYU hit at a .301 clip and forced Winnipeg into 26 errors.

In the first set, BYU jumped out to an early 3-1 lead before Winnipeg fought back and took a 6-4 advantage. With the two teams trading points, the Cougars used a 4-0 run to grab the momentum and an 18-14 lead. The visitors battled back and ended the set on an 11-4 run to win 25-22.

Winnipeg opened with a 12-9 lead in the second set before BYU came back and tied the score at 12-12. The visitors used a 10-4 run to push their lead to 22-16 and force the Cougars to call a timeout before eventually winning 25-18.

BYU scored the first five points as it pulled out to an early 11-2 lead in the third set. After the early lead, the closest Winnipeg got was eight points at 14-8 as the Cougars cruised to a 25-13 win.

In the fourth set, the two teams traded points early as neither team was able to pull away by more than three points. A 3-1 run by BYU then gave it a 13-11 lead and forced Winnipeg to call a timeout. The Cougars pushed their lead to five points twice before winning 25-21 to force the decisive fifth set.

Winnipeg jumped out to an early 5-3 lead in the final set to force BYU to call a timeout. The Cougars responded with a 7-4 run to take its first lead at 10-9 since leading 2-1 in the beginning of the set to force a timeout from the visitors. BYU scored five of the last seven points to win 15-11.

BYU travels to Chicago for its first match of the regular season against Loyola on January 3, at 7:00 CST.