STANFORD, Calif. – No. 8 Stanford challenged third-ranked BYU, but ultimately fell 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24, Friday in front of a capacity crowd at Burnham Pavilion.
The Cougars (14-2, 8-1 MPSF) racked-up 18.0 blocks, proving to be too much for the Cardinal hitters. BYU held Stanford (9-7, 6-5 MPSF) to a .165 hitting percentage, while posting a .224 clip of its own. The Cardinal held a 54-43 advantage in digs.
Freshman setter Paul Bischoff recorded his third double-double of the season with 35 assists and 10 digs to go with career-highs in kills (4) and blocks (6). Junior libero Evan Enriques anchored the Cardinal defense with 13 digs.
Redshirt senior Gabriel Vega finished with a team-high 14 kills and seven digs, while sophomore outside hitter Jordan Ewert tallied 10 kills and eight digs. Redshirt junior middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw added eight kills, five blocks, four digs and two aces for Stanford.
Playing in his first match since the opening weekend, redshirt junior Clay Jones came off the bench to register seven kills, four digs and a block. Freshman Eric Beatty started the match at opposite, posting four kills and four digs. Freshman middle blocker Stephen Moye hit .300 with three kill and six blocks.
BYU was led by junior Price Jarman, who notched 10 kills on a .588 attack percentage and had a match-best eight blocks. Senior Jake Langlois had a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs, while also collecting eight blocks for the Cougars.
Stanford hits the road next week for a couple of nonconference matches in State College, Pennsylvania. The Cardinal will face Lees-McRae on Friday, March 3 at 2:30 p.m. PT and Penn State on Saturday, March 4 at 4:30 p.m.