No. 2 BYU set to host No. 13 Stanford

PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball will look to remain undefeated with a matchup against No. 13 Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 7 p.m. MST in the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU Game Notes
Stanford Game Notes

The match will be televised on BYUtv and streamed live on byutv.org and the BYUtv App. It is the second-to-last home match of the season as the Cougars will be on the road until Senior Night against Grand Canyon on April 2.

Winners of their first 15 matches, the Cougars (15-0, 5-0 MPSF) are currently riding the second-best start in program history and the second-best winning streak in the rally era. After playing 10 ranked opponents in its first 12 matches, the Cardinal (6-8, 2-3) will be the 11th ranked opponent BYU has faced this year.

The Cougars swept both Concordia and USC last week to remain atop the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings with a conference record of 5-0. Stanford is currently tied for fourth in the league with wins over Concordia and No. 7 UCLA.

BYU is 38-22 overall and 19-7 at home against the Cardinal. Under head coach Shawn Olmstead, the Cougars have won eight of the last 10 matchups. The two teams split the season series last year before BYU defeated Stanford in a five-set thriller in the first round of the MPSF Tournament.

The Cougars have outblocked their opponents in 14 of their 15 wins and currently lead the NCAA DI-II with an average of 2.89 blocks per set. Middle blocker Felipe de Brito Ferreira leads the MPSF with 1.28 blocks per set while ranking seventh nationally. Opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez averages 1.02 blocks per set and MPSF Defensive Player of the Week Miki Jauhiainen averages 1.00 blocks per set to rank fourth and fifth in the conference, respectively.

Garcia Fernandez continues to lead the nation in aces per set with an average of .840. He has already totaled 42 aces so far this year, the seventh-most aces in a season by a BYU player. With nine matches remaining in the regular season, the junior is well on pace to break the program’s season record of 55 aces set by Taylor Sander in 2014.

The opposite hitter also averages 5.34 points per set to rank second in the NCAA DI-II. He leads the Cougar attack with 3.96 kills per set and 8.14 attacks per set. Setter Wil Stanley remains second in the country in assists per set (10.78) while helping BYU hit an average of .353, the second-best team hitting percentage in the nation.

After going 4-1 to open the season, the Cardinal have lost seven of their last nine matches. Stanford is led by opposite hitter Jaylen Jasper. The junior currently leads the MPSF with 4.09 kills per set while leading the team in attacks per set (8.76), hitting percentage (.293) and points per set (4.63).