STANFORD, Calif. — No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball defeated No. 7 Stanford in a five-set thriller (25-13, 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 18-16) in a conference matchup on Friday evening at Maples Pavilion.

BYU’s 3-2 victory was guided by opposite Kupono Browne who finished with a career-high and match-high of 26 kills, including two aces and five digs on the night. The 26 kills was the most by a Cougar since Davide Gardini totaled 29 against Grand Canyon in 2021.

Browne was one of three Cougars to record double-digit kills, with Luke Benson knocking down 13 kills and Miks Ramanis collecting 12 kills.

BYU (11-6, 2-3) also accomplished a team season-high of 64 kills on a .322 hitting percentage while holding Stanford to a .285 clip.

The Cougars trailed 19-12 in Set 4 but rallied for the win to force a fifth set.

The teams switched sides in Set 5 with BYU up 8-7. A solo block by Gavin Julien and a kill by Browne gave BYU a 12-11 lead, forcing a Stanford timeout. Will Rottman, who led Stanford with 17 kills, then served the ball into the net, giving BYU a 13-12 edge. Another Stanford service error gave BYU match point, but a kill and ace by Moses Wagner kept the Cardinal close. There would be three more match points until a block by Taylor and kill by Ramanis concluded the match at 18-16, securing BYU its 3-2 victory.

The Cougars were cruising and found themselves ahead by 13 points at 19-6 in Set 1 after going on a 7-0 run which featured kills by Teon Taylor, Julien and Ramanis, with an ace by Ian Little off the bench as well. Ramanis then earned his fourth kill of the night after he was dished a one-handed set by setter Todd Herget to go ahead 22-7. Another kill from Browne finished off BYU’s dominant 25-13 opening set and gave the Cougars a 1-0 edge in the match.

Stanford turned the momentum around in the second set, establishing a 6-1 lead after back-to-back aces by setter Nathan Lietzke. The Cardinal found their largest lead of the set to that point at 21-14 after back-to-back kills, and would later gain another seven-point lead at 23-16. The Cardinal were then able to close the set at 25-16, evening the match at 1-1 and holding BYU to its lowest set score of the season. Lewis is the only other team to do the same in 2024, defeating BYU 25-16 in set one on Jan. 13.

The score was tied at 17-all in Set 3 but Jon Stanley recorded his first kill of the night at 20-19, with BYU still down by one. Stanley then stepped up to serve for the Cougars at 21-20, and helped BYU even the score at 21s after a Stanford attack error.

A kill by Benson knotted the score again at 23 until the Cardinal’s Will Rottman pulled off a kill and an ace, to finish off set two at 25-23. Stanford left the third set with a 2-1 match lead.

The Cougars subbed in setter Noa Haine when down five in Set 4 at 17-12 who then assisted Julien on a kill to cut Stanford’s 4-0 run at 18-13. BYU would earn the next two points, headlined by Ramanis’ ninth kill, forcing a Stanford timeout at 18-15.

When down four points at 20-16, the Cougars mustered enough strength to cut Stanford’s lead to one at 20-21 after a block by Taylor. Stanley’s second kill of the night evened the score at 22, and Browne gave BYU a 23-22 lead with a kill. Browne then took to the service line and recorded his second ace of the night to deliver the set to BYU 25-23 and push the match into a fifth.

The Cougars (11-6 overall, 2-3 MPSF) will face Stanford (8-8, 1-3) once more on Saturday, at 7 p.m. MT, with live coverage on the Pac-12 Network.

Newsletter