Feb. 4, 2012
PROVO, Utah - The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball season offers an endless series of challenges, like a series of monster waves that keep the surfer pinned under water and gasping for air.
Stanford emerged to ride the biggest wave -- No. 1 BYU - to a 35-33, 25-23, 25-22 victory on Saturday night, enabling the No. 7 Cardinal to complete a weekend two-match sweep of the Cougars.
Brad Lawson had eight of his match-high 14 kills in a marathon first set that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the match. Both teams combined to fight off 10 set points - BYU withstood seven and Stanford three - before a block by Lawson and Gus Ellis finished it off before 4,524 at Smith Fieldhouse.
The victory was the fifth consecutive in the series for Stanford, which beat BYU in four on Friday.
"This is something you don't get many opportunities to do," Stanford coach John Kostysaid.
The victory moves Stanford (7-2 overall, 4-1 MPSF) past the Cougars (6-3, 4-2) and into second place in the MPSF behind UCLA (6-0).
The reward for Stanford is a fourth consecutive road weekend ahead - at Long Beach State, which won all three meetings last year, and at another longtime nemesis, Cal State Northridge. A visit to No. 2 UC Irvine follows in a conference so tough that 11 of its 12 teams are ranked among the nation's Top 15, and Stanford is lucky enough to play its first nine MPSF matches on the road.
The combined first-set points were the most since a 34-36 fourth-set loss at Hawai'i on Jan. 23, 2011, and Stanford's 35 points was its most since a 35-33 second-set victory at BYU on Jan. 23, 2010, when the games went to 30.
There were 19 ties in the first set, and just as many in the second. This time it was Brian Cookwho closed out the set, converting an attack on a sequence in which the ball crossed the net six times. Lawson covered an attack by 6-foot-8 All-America middle Futi Tavana - Lawson's second dig of the sequence - to set up Cook's winner.
"That's how the whole night was," Kosty said. "It was high-level volleyball."
Four Stanford players finished in double figures in kills: Lawson, Steven Irvin (12), Eric Mochalski (11), and Cook (10). Ellis had seven blocks - five in the first set - and setter Evan Barryhad 47 assists while passing the Cardinal to a .337 hitting percentage.
So, how does Kosty hope this weekend will impact the Cardinal in the long run?
"Just getting experience on the road," the coach said. "At some point late in the season, we'll have to play some big matches on the road somewhere. That's why we need to learn how to do it right now."
Kosty's message? A sweep of the No. 1 team was an incredible achievement, but the schedule offers no breathers. It doesn't get any easier.