Stewart named Player of Week

With basketball season over and football in the middle of spring practice, how about a little love for the No. 4 men’s volleyball team. Monday, BYU captain Andrew Stewart was named MSPF co-Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Hawaii’s Jonas Umlauft.

BYU swept No. 7 USC over the weekend, and Stewart was one of the main reasons why.

On Friday, the senior outside hitter led the Cougars with 27 kills, the most by a BYU player since Ivan Perez had 26 against Long Beach in 2008 and the most in a four-set game since Mike Wall had 30 against Pacific in 2002. Stewart also added nine digs and six block assists as the Cougars beat the Trojans 3-1.

He added 16 kills during BYU’s 3-0 sweep of USC on Saturday night.

“He’s our leader on the floor,” BYU coach Shawn Patchell said about Stewart. “When he plays well we win, and he was exceptional against USC. What was interesting about Andrew is that he wasn’t playing well to start. He wasn’t passing well but he just kept grinding it out and ended up with a record-breaking performance.”

BYU will host UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Saturday at the Smith Fieldhouse. Both matches start at 7 p.m. MST.