BYU (7-3) hosted Long Island (3-6) for back to back matches in Provo. The Cougars looked to bounce back after losing a pair of home matches to UC Irvine.
Match 1 (Thursday): BYU vs. Long Island (3-0)
Set one was tied 21-21 Standley came in and served two straight points leading to an eventual 25-23 set win.
Despite the set loss, the Sharks out-hit the Cougars .267 to .179. The Sharks also had more kills and digs in the set.
After six kills in the first set, Luke Benson started set two on the bench dealing with an illness. BYU fell behind early 5-1. An 8-2 run gave BYU the lead. The Sharks kept it close but the Cougars would win the set 25-22.
Kupono Browne had a good set allowing Benson to remain on the bench for the set. Browne had four kills and two aces in set two.
Like Long Island did in set two, BYU jumped out to a 5-1 lead. That lead then ballooned to 9-1 before a service error. The score eventually would be 14-6. However, Long Island would make it a close set cutting the lead down to 17-13.
The Cougars won the set 25-16 on a 7-2 run. #8 recorded his first ace on the final serve of the match. It was Sorensen’s first-ever career serve.
“If they need me to get some aces I can do that, I like serving the ball,” Browne said after the game.
Match 2 (Saturday): BYU vs. Long Island (3-0)
Match two was all BYU. The Cougars would take the first two sets 25-18 before sweeping Long Island for a second night.
The Cougars recorded an impressive nine aces in the match. Kupono Browne recorded 14 kills.
“This weekend was a great opportunity to showcase who we really are to the rest of the country. I’ve put in a lot of work and so has the rest of this team. Everyone is getting some playing time which is great, so we’re seeing the fruits of our efforts,” Setter Tyler Herget said after the match.
Herget recorded 31 assists and eight digs in the second match.
The Cougars moved up to no. six in the AVCA Coaches Poll. BYU looks towards facing Grand Canyon again in Provo Feb. 16-17.