No. 2 BYU welcomes No. 13 Lewis

PROVO, Utah - Facing its only non-conference opponent of the season, the No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball team hosts No. 13 Lewis Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. MST at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Junior All-American Taylor Sander leads BYU  (2-0, 2-0 MPSF) with 4.57 kills per set and a .519 hitting percentage while also contributing stats in every category. Sander added two service aces over the weekend to move his career total to 87. The outside hitter needs three more to pass Rafael Paal for the No. 2 all-time spot for the Cougars.

Senior middle blocker Russ Lavaja leads BYU with 17 blocks while senior setter Ryan Boyce has tallied 70 assists.

The Cougars are coming off two wins against Hawai’i where they came away with 3-0 and 3-1 final match scores.

Defending 2012 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Champion Lewis (0-3) entered the season ranked No. 5 but dropped to No. 13 after three losses in the UCSB Asics Invitational. The Flyers fell to UC San Diego 3-2 before dropping another to then-No. 13 UC Santa Barbara 3-0. Lewis finished the tournament with a 3-1 loss to then-No. 15 California Baptist.

Lewis sophomore Geoff Powell was named MIVA Offensive Player of the Week for his performance over the weekend. Powell posted a career-high 26 kills against UC San Diego. The outside hitter led the Flyers with 16 kills against No. 15 California Baptist on Saturday.

BYU leads the series 10-1 and took the most recent contest 3-0 in 2011. The Cougars are undefeated against the Flyers at home (7-0).

Both matches will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

Follow the team on Twitter @BYUvolleyball and Facebook.