Sander leads BYU in sweep of Hawaii

In celebration of his 20th birthday Saturday night, Brigham Young outside hitter Taylor Sander made a wish and then blew away Hawaii with his serves for a 25-14, 29-27, 25-17 victory.

A crowd of 1,934 in the Stan Sheriff Center witnessed Sander slam 18 kills while hitting .464 and sizzling four aces.

"It’s great to be in Hawaii and play in this amazing building," Sander said. "It was a great birthday present."

Last month, Sander suffered a fracture of the second metacarpal on the middle finger of his right (hitting) hand. The recovery period was projected to be four to six weeks. He only needed the minimum amount of rehabilitation.

The injury "was pretty painful," Sander said. "Every once in a while I’ll hit a ball that will hurt it bad. But it’s fine now."

Sander had difficulty with his serve placements in Friday’s match between the teams.

"I struggled," he said. "I missed seven serves."

For the rematch, he said, "I tried to control my mental game, and go back and rip the ball."

In the first and third sets, Sander served in the sixth rotation, facing the Warriors’ three best passers — outside hitters Steven Hunt and J.P. Marks and libero Nick Castello. In his first service turn in the first set, Sander blasted four aces in a run in which he served nine points to give the Cougars an 18-8 lead.

The Warriors could not disrupt Sander’s rhythm despite using two of their own timeouts and a media break. Sander was credited with one of his aces when an errant serve struck the legs of opposite attacker Taylor Averill, who was trying to jump out of the way.

"His service turn in that first set showed why he’s a player-of-the-year candidate," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "That really let that first set get away."

Sander was equally tough to pass in the third set, when he served points on nine attempts.

"I was super happy with my serving," Sander said. "That was the strongest part of my game."

It could be argued that his back-row spikes were just as devastating. Seven of his kills came on bics — quick sets in which he takes off from behind the 3-meter line. In most offenses, the bics are set near the line. Sander’s long arms and burst — he has a 40-inch vertical jump — allow Joe Kauliakamoa to set near the net.

"To set Taylor is the easiest thing to do," Kauliakamoa said of the 6-foot-4 Sander. "He’s so athletic. He gets up so high. He hits so hard for a skinny guy. If you want that spectacular play, that’s the guy to set."

To further confuse defenses, the Cougars will use middle blocker Futi Tavana as a diversion.

"(Tavana) makes good fakes, " Kauliakamoa said. "It’s easy for Taylor to come right behind (a front-row player) and bang the ball. Everybody spreads out to clear a path."

Tavana said: "He has plenty of hang time. I can move out of the way before he lands."

Sander, who is part Maori, was recruited by UH.

"I’m happy with my decision," Sander said. "I’m happy with this team. They’re a great bunch of players."

Sander, Tavana and opposite attacker Robb Stowell each have missed matches because of injuries. They all are now relatively healthy. In this two-match series, the Cougars did not use any of their bench players. The Warriors used 12 players.

"They were the preseason No. 1, and nobody has beaten them with that lineup," Wade said. "They’re very good."

The Warriors lost for the ninth time in the past 10 matches, all against top-four opponents. But even with a league record of 4-12, they remain in contention for one of the eight spots for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. Their final six regular-season matches are against teams competing for the final two spots.

"We can control our destiny," Wade said. "That’s nice."