BYU volleyball dispatches Concordia in straight sets

BYU men’s volleyball once again swept its way to victory, this time Thursday against Concordia by scores of 25-15, 25-19, 25-20.

The Cougars, improving to 14-0, were led offensively by Gabi Garcia Fernandez with 10 kills, and provided a wall defensively that Concordia was never able to break down.

Early in the first set, Fernandez got his first ace of the match. This ace gave him 40 on the year, which put him with Cougar legend Taylor Sander as the only two BYU men’s volleyball players to have 40-plus aces in two different seasons. Fernandez went on to have three aces in this match. BYU hit a scorching .650 in the first set to go along with 4.5 blocks.

The second and third set were very much the same: back and forth starts to each set until BYU went on a short 4-point burst around the 13-point mark. Then they went back-and-forth again basically until the end of each set. Overall, it was a pretty straight-forward victory for the Cougars. BYU ended the match with 9.5 blocks and 5 aces to go along with 26 digs.

Wil Stanley was his usual self with 34 assists, and Davide Gardini contributed by hitting .500 with 9 kills.

Perhaps the big news of the night was the absence of middle blocker Felipe de Brito Ferreira. He had a boot on his left foot/ankle. It’s unclear what is plaguing him right now, but it’s crucial he comes back healthy for a match-up against Hawaii in two weeks. Branden Oberender came off and the bench in his place and performed well, going 5 of 6 on his attacks, but BYU can obviously use its best players when facing the #1 team in the country.

BYU’s next match is Saturday, February 22, at 6 pm against USC. The match will be broadcast on BYUtv.