BYU Cougars score second consecutive win over USC Trojans – Volleyball news
Following a 3-1 victory in season’s first match against USC, the men’s volleyball team of Brigham Young University (BYU) continued the momentum into the second match.
The two teams came into stride this past Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse Arena in Provo, Utah and contested their skills in front of some 4,261 spectators. The match spanned over five tiring sets and eventually ended in BYU’s favour. The winning squad posted
3-2 (25-22, 26-28, 25-15, 19-25, 15-13) on board, in order to claim better status in the match.
Victory against USC improved the overall record of No.1 BYU to 6-1. Moreover, the Cougars completed a winning streak of six matches. They opened the 2012 regular season on a sad note by losing the very first game but learned from their experience. BYU squad
got its form back and followed its defeat with six victories in row, which is pretty impressive.
On the other hand, No. 5 Trojans of University of Southern California (USC) moved to 3-3 record in the season.
The sophomore outside hitter Taylor Sander was central BYU’s success. He remained in the front row attackers and contributed team-high 25 kills in addition to two aces and nine digs. His teammate Robb Stowell also proved his endeavours and helped cougars
with 21 kills, 11 digs, three blocks and an ace.
For Trojans, Tanner Jansen notched 12 kills, while Steven Mochalski followed him up with 11 kills. Henry Cassiday and Micah Christenson put up great effort on the defence side and added 10 and 9 digs, respectively.
In the first two sets of the match, both teams played aggressively and remained hand-in-hand. BYU claimed opening set with three-point margin, whereas Trojans hit back with second set win by using two-point advantage. The seesaw battle continued in third
and fourth set. BYU captured third set and USC pulled off success in fourth set. However, BYU claimed fifth decisive set and announced match victory. The match was a complete thriller from start to end, which moved the audience back and forth in their seats.
The BYU coach Chris McGown, who was pretty nervous at some points during the match, seemed glad about the hard-earned victory. He appreciated the team work of players and also praised the support of fans.
He stated, “It was pretty nerve-wrecking but we definitely had some help from the crowd that was unbelievable. You could just see the boys feeding off of the energy and it really pulled us through in the fifth set. They really worked hard for this win and
it shows.”
The top gun of Cougars, Taylor Sander had the similar feelings. He commented, “It was a battle for sure and the crowd helped us along. We work really hard during the week and it was good to come out of this weekend with two wins. We don’t like to go five,
but I think it was a good learning experience for us and it feels great to come out on top.”
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