Cougar Sweep Finishes California Tournament

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Finishing its stay at the Gaucho Invitational, the BYU men's volleyball team swept UC Santa Barbara 26-24, 25-22, 25-19 on Saturday in the final round of play. 

In its first meeting since UCSB knocked the Cougars out of last year's MPSF tournament, BYU showed its readiness for the new season with the 3-0 victory. Taylor Sander led all players with 17 kills. Teammate redshirt freshman Josue Rivera followed closely with 11 kills of his own on .557 hitting. 

The Cougars and Gauchos played very closely through the first two sets with scores of 26-24 and 25-22 going in BYU's favor. Set three's convincing 25-19 final score gave the Cougars their match victory. 

UCSB's Miles Evans led his team with 11 kills. 

Next weekend the Cougars continue their season with a pair of road matches against No. 2 UC Irvine on Jan. 13 and 14. BYU is now 2-1 on the season.

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