BYU men’s volleyball is back on the winning side, beating Cal State Northridge 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 26-28, 25-18).
“It was a little bit of an interesting match tonight,” said BYU head coach Chris McGown. “I thought we actually played with pretty good energy. Second night in a road trip, it’s hard to go back-to-back, especially after a frustrating loss last night. For sure it’s really nice to get the win against a good team here.”
The first set started off in BYU’s favor, taking the lead 11-7. Cal State Northridge came back, bringing the score to a tie four times before BYU finally pulled ahead again to a 19-17 lead. Tim Dobbert, opposite for BYU, brought BYU to a 24-20 lead on his seventh kill, and BYU closed the first set, taking a win 25-22.
The second set started in a similar fashion. BYU took the early lead with a 5-2 advantage. BYU maintained its lead until CS Northridge scored three kills in a row, giving it a 9-8 lead.
Both teams played neck and neck for the remainder of the match, coming down to a 23-22 lead for BYU. Michael Hatch, middle blocker for BYU, finished off the set with a kill, winning 25-23.
Again, the third set started in BYU’s favor. They opened with four kills, but CS Northridge came right back to tie the score at 4. The match went back and forth, but soon BYU found itself in a seven-point lead at 21-14. But CS Northridge was not done. It took a 5-0 run and made its way to 22-21. Hitting a tie four times in the remainder of the match, CS Northridge came out on top with a 28-26 win.
An early 8-4 lead was again in BYU’s favor in the fourth set as CS Northridge struggled with its serves. BYU continued to lead the way to a 16-12 lead, but CS Northridge came back to a tie at 18-18. BYU pulled out a seven-point run, finishing the set at 25-18 for the win.
Dobbert hit a career high with 15 kills. He also had two aces, three blocks and a .429 hit clip. Outside hitter Taylor Sander contributed 13 kills, four blocks and four digs. Middle blocker Devin Young brought six blocks to the match, and setter Tyler Heap added 38 assists.
BYU returns to its home court Friday, playing UC Irvine at 7 p.m (MDT). The game will be broadcast through BYUtv.
