No. 2 Cougars continue MPSF play at home

PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball will host two conference foes this week at the Smith Fieldhouse beginning with Concordia on Thursday, Feb. 20, before facing USC on Saturday, Feb. 22.

BYU Game Notes
USC Game Notes

The Cougars (13-0, 3-0) will play the Eagles (6-8, 1-2) at 7 p.m. MST on Thursday and the Trojans (2-11, 0-4) at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Both matches will be televised on BYUtv and streamed on the BYUtv App and byutv.org.

As one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA DI-II, BYU remained at No. 2 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll behind Hawaii. The Cougars’ 13-match win streak to open the year is the second-best start to a season in program history and the best since 1999. After sweeping Grand Canyon last week, BYU improved to 3-0 against conference opponents to remain atop the MPSF standings.

Since Concordia joined the league in 2017, BYU has split each year’s two-game series while holding a 3-2 record overall. The Cougars swept the Eagles in their two conference wins while both losses have come in five sets. Concordia enters the match tied for fifth in the league after defeating USC and dropping matches to Pepperdine and UCLA.

The Eagles’ attack is led by outside hitter Raymond Barsemian. The senior leads the MPSF in attacks per set (9.76) and is second in kills per set (3.98). As a team, Concordia leads the conference in digs per set (10.00) with libero Addison Enriques pacing the MPSF with 2.37 digs per set.

USC enters the week at the bottom of the league standings having lost its first four matches against MPSF opponents. The Trojans are currently on a five-match skid and their two lone victories this year are five-set wins over Princeton and CSUN. USC will play at Stanford this Thursday before traveling to face BYU in Provo. Under head coach Shawn Olmstead, the Cougars are 7-1 against the Trojans

For the fifth week in a row, BYU opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez leads the NCAA with an average of .886 aces per set. The junior is also the conference leader in points per set (5.47) and kills per set (4.09). Setter Wil Stanley paces the conference with 10.77 assists per set while middle blocker Felipe de Brito Ferreira leads the MPSF with 1.282 blocks per set.

As a team, the Cougars lead the league in hitting percentage (.345), blocks per set (2.755), assists per set (12.21), and kills per set (13.00).