April 2, 1998

Stanford, CA - The sixth-ranked Stanford men's volleyball team shrugged off a slow start to rally for a 3-1 (11-15, 15-12, 15-6, 15-12) win over fourth-ranked Brigham Young tonight in Burnham Pavilion. Sophomore outside hitter Andy Witt posted a match-high 36 kills while freshman setter Brad Griffith (Scotts Valley, CA/Los Gatos HS), starting in place of Josh Lukens, recorded a season-high 94 assists. BYU junior middle blocker Ryan Miller led the Cougars with 26 kills. With the win, the Cardinal improved to 13-6 overall and 12-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation while BYU dropped to 14-4 overall and 12-4 in the MPSF.

It was all BYU early on as the Cougars opened the match with an 8-1 run. Stanford, which hit just .211 in the opening stanza, rallied to within one at 12-11 before the Cougars put the game away with three unanswered points. BYU's Ossie Antonetti paced the Cougar attack with five kills. BYU again opened strong in the second game to take a 6-1 lead.

The Cardinal would rally again and eventually take its first lead of the match (8-7) and on long hit by the Cougars. After three ties and two lead changes up to 12-12, the Cardinal took the lead for good on a block by senior middle blocker Tad Hoffman and Witt. Hoffman and Jeremy Bart combined on a block for the final point in the Cardinal's 15-12 game two victory. With the momentum shifted its way, the Cardinal jumped out to an 11-3 lead in game three before cruising to a 15-6 win. Witt and junior outside hitter Patrick Klein (Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS) took over in game four - won by the Cardinal 15-12. Witt (Santa Ynez, CA/Santa Ynez HS), who recorded just two kills and a negative .429 in game one, got stronger as the match wore on and found his rhythm in the final stanza, posting 21 of his 36 kills. Klein, who put Stanford ahead for good (12-11) with his final kill of the match, provided the punch on the other side, registering 13 of his 32 kills on the evening in the fourth game.

Stanford returns to action on Friday, April 3 when it hosts No. 7 Long Beach State at 7:00 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.