PROVO, Utah – BYU set team season highs for blocks and hitting percentage on the way to defeating Pacific in straight sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-19) Saturday night in the Smith Fieldhouse.

The Cougars (6-2, 6-0 MPSF) finished with 16 blocks and hit .377 on the night.

“I thought we played some really clean volleyball tonight,” BYU head coach Chris McGown said. “That’s not always easy when we’ve got different guys coming off the bench to maintain that cohesion and energy. I thought the guys that came in played great, and overall it was really nice night statistically.”

BYU vs. Pacific Box Score

Taylor Sander led the Cougars with 12 kills and a season-high .706 hit clip after going the whole match without an attack error. Devin Young tied his season high of eight blocks, and Joseph Grosh had a career-high six blocks.

“We thought we would block well against these teams because of our size advantage,” McGown said. “So we knew that if we served well and got them into some trouble then stuck to some consistent-principled blocking moves that we’d be in good shape to have some balls come our way, and they did."

The first set proved to be a battle, with the teams trading points to a 16-all tie. The largest lead by either team during the stretch was two points. With the Tigers (1-6, 0-4 MPSF) clinging to an 18-17 lead, the Cougars went on an 8-1 run to pull ahead and take the set 25-18. Grosh was key for the BYU defense during the run, tallying three blocks and adding a kill for the set point.

With BYU leading the second set 8-7, Sander propelled a 6-0 run with three kills. However, Pacific would rally late in the set, scoring five straight to close within one at 18-17. A service error and a Sander block gave the momentum back to the Cougars as they went on to take the second set 25-20.

BYU got off to a strong start in the third set, taking a 6-2 lead. It would then use a 4-0 run to increase its lead to seven at 11-4. The Cougars never trailed in the set and cruised to the sweep with a 25-19 set victory.

BYU will hit the road for a Friday night match against Pepperdine at 7 p.m. PST. The Cougars then head to Los Angeles to take on USC Saturday at 5 p.m. PST.

PROVO, Utah — After two road wins, No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball returns to the Smith Fieldhouse to host No. 6 Stanford Friday and Pacific Saturday on BYUtv. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. MST.

BYU (4-2, 4-0 MPSF) took down then-No. 7 UC Irvine in five sets Friday before sweeping UC San Diego on the road Saturday. The Cougars are tied for first in conference play.

Outside hitter Taylor Sander broke BYU’s all-time record for service aces in a match with nine against UC San Diego. The senior already holds BYU’s all-time career record for aces with 144. Sander leads the Cougars with 4.64 kills per set on a .313 hit clip.

Jaylen Reyes leads on the back row with 1.73 digs per set, and Michael Hatch leads in blocking with 1.25 blocks per set.

BYU last played the Cardinal (3-2, 0-2 MPSF) April 13, 2013 and the Tigers (1-4, 0-2 MPSF) April 12, 2013 on the road. The Cougars swept both teams.

Stanford and Pacific are tied for 11^th in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Both teams lost to UCLA and UC Santa Barbara on the road over the weekend. Pacific will face Cal Baptist on the road Thursday before heading to Provo.

The Cardinal is led by Steven Irvin, who averages 3.86 kills per set on .329 hitting. Grant Delgado averages 2.76 digs per set for Stanford.

Thomas Hodges leads the Tigers with 2.65 kills per set, also contributing 1.47 digs and 1.47 blocks per set. Javier Caceres averages 3.17 digs, and Tommy Carmody leads the team with 1.61 blocks per set.

Links to live stats and live video streaming for both matches can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.