Cougars sweep MPSF weekly awards for second time

WOODLAND, Calif. – BYU men's volleyball junior opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez received MPSF Offensive Player of the Week and senior setter Wil Stanley earned MPSF Defensive Player of the Week honors, the conference announced Monday.

No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball has now swept both weekly awards twice in the first four weeks of the season. Garcia Fernandez and sophomore outside hitter Davide Gardini swept conference honors on January 6. Gardini also received offensive recognition the second week of the season as five of the eight total weekly honors so far this year have been given to the Cougars.

Stanley had back-to-back double-doubles in two wins over No. 5 UC Irvine last week, finishing with a combined 105 assists (13.1/set) and 25 digs (3.1/set) with no receiving errors and seven blocks. The senior had a career-high 13 digs to go along with 48 assists in the first four-set win over the Anteaters. Two days later he set more career records with 57 assists and five blocks while also totaling 12 digs. The setter also helped the Cougars finish with a combined .324 hitting percentage in the two wins.

Garcia Fernandez received offensive honors for the second time this year after recording 41 kills (5.1/set) on a .325 clip, eight blocks and seven aces to score 52 points for BYU last week. The opposite hitter also had a total of 18 digs (2.3/set) in the two wins over UC Irvine. In the first match, Garcia Fernandez ended with 19 kills on a .517 hitting percentage, seven digs, four blocks and three aces. The next match, he equaled his season-high of 22 kills and had 11 digs for his first double-double of the season while adding four blocks and aces for a season-high 28 points.

The tandem will look to build on the Cougars’ eight-match win streak this week with a pair of matches against No. 3 UCSB.