PROVO, Utah – The No. 6 Stanford men's volleyball team dropped a 20-25, 25-19, 23-25, 21-25 decision at No. 7 BYU in front of a hostile crowd of over 5,000, Friday, at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The Cardinal has now lost its last three matches, falling to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Cougars move to 5-2 on the year and 5-0 in the conference.
Senior outside hitter Steven Irvin led Stanford with 15 kills and seven digs on a .370 attack percentage. Senior Brian Cook added 13 kills and a team-best 13 digs, while also hitting .370 on the night. Sophomore setter James Shaw totaled 47 assists, six digs, five kills and two blocks.
“I thought our team was consistent throughout the match,” said head coach John Kosty. “I think the crowd elevated BYU’s play at times and helped them out in key points.”
Senior Eric Mochalski chipped in with 10 kills, four digs and a block for the Cardinal, while junior middle Spencer Haly finished with eight kills on nine swings with no errors (.889).
“Eric came off the bench and played well tonight,” added Kosty.
BYU had three player notch double-digit kills, including a match-high 18 from Taylor Sander. The Cougars out hit the Cardinal .347 to .325 and finished with a 10.5 to 7.0 advantage in the block column.
After dropping the opening set, Stanford answered in the second with a 25-19 victory. The Cardinal hit .536 in the set, racking up 17 kills on 28 attempts with just two errors. Stanford posted a sideout percentage of 85.
Neither team hit well in the third, but the Cougars came out on top 25-23 despite hitting below .200. Stanford was plagued by eight attack errors in the set.
BYU posted a match-best .586 hitting percentage in the fourth set to finish off the Cardinal. The Cougars sided out at a 90 percent rate, limiting Stanford to 10 kills in the set.
“I thought other guys stepped up [for BYU] tonight and they did not have to rely on Sander on every play,” said Kosty.
Stanford closes out its four-match road trip at Cal Baptist on Saturday, Jan. 25. The Cardinal will face the Lancers in Riverside, Calif., at 7 p.m. PT.