No. 7 Cougars defeat CUI 3-0 on senior night in back-to-back sweeps over Golden Eagles

PROVO, Utah — No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball took down Concordia University Irvine in three sets (25-16, 25-12, 25-19) on senior night for the second sweep of the weekend at the Smith Fieldhouse. 

Senior opposite hitter Kupono Browne led the Cougars in kills and digs, registering 13 and nine respectively. Fellow senior Gavin Julien led the team in blocks with five. Jon Stanley rounded out the seniors with six kills, BYU's third-most kills of the night, including a season-high six digs.

The Cougars as a team hit .425 on the night and held the Golden Eagles to a .146 clip. Junior Teon Taylor hit a perfect 1.000 going 6-6 on attempts through the match.

BYU totaled 41 kills, 30 digs and four aces. The Cougars outblocked the Golden Eagles 6-0.

Set One

The Cougars jumped to a quick 3-0 lead to start the match. Fueled by back-to-back kills from Taylor, BYU extended its lead to 7-3. The Cougars then earned the next four of six points before the Golden Eagles called the first timeout of the match. 

After CUI saw a point out of the break, the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to lead 16-6. The run was highlighted by a block from Browne and a kill from Julien which gave BYU the double digit lead. 

The Golden Eagles staved off set point four times before Browne notched the first set with a kill for the Cougars to win 25-16. 

Set Two

BYU continued its early efficiency going up 6-1 on Concordia to open set two, capped off by a service ace from Stanley. Miks Ramanis and Taylor combined for two pairs of back-to-back kills to propel the Cougars into the media timeout 15-7. 

Ramanis helped BYU control the scoreboard out of the break, sending the ball on a line drive to the Golden Eagles backcourt to further the lead. He also acquired three of the Cougars six points coming out of the timeout. A pair of kills from Tyler Herget and Browne put BYU ahead 22-10. 

Jared Brady came off the bench for Ramanis and immediately got a kill at the net followed by his first collegiate career service ace to put the Cougars at set point 24-11. BYU went on to win the set 25-12 on a kill from middle blocker Ethan Gant.

Set Three

The Golden Eagles led for the first time going up 2-1 on the Cougars to open set three. The Cougars quickly responded, knotting the match at three a piece with kills from Browne and Ramanis. Concordia etched a 6-4 lead, before BYU matched it again 6-6.

The set went point for point early through the set, with both teams vying for the lead. The Golden Eagles pulled ahead by two points, but the Cougars went on a 3-0 run to retake the lost ground. BYU entered the media timeout with the lead at 15-14 off a service error by Concordia. 

The Cougars went on 4-1 run out of the break with kills from Browne, Ramanis and Stanley. Another 3-0 run capped off by a service ace from Browne led to Concordia calling a timeout down six, 22-16. 

A kill by Browne on an assist by Herget ended the set 25-19 for the Cougars who swept the Golden Eagles in three sets.  

Up Next

BYU will travel to face USC for its final regular season matches of the season, with the first match slated for Fri. Apri. 5. The match will take place at 7 p.m MT. at the Galen Center with streaming available on Pac-12 Live.