Provo, Utah - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Volleyball team wrapped up its four-day, two-match Utah trip on Saturday evening, falling 3-0 to Brigham Young University in front of over 3,600 energetic fans at Smith Fieldhouse.

STAC drops to 0-2 on the young season, while BYU remains perfect on the year, improving to 4-0.

After shaking off opening night jitters and getting a feel for the raucous atmosphere inside the Cougars dojo, the Spartans were able to settle in and play their brand of volleyball. All three sets were close at the start, with BYU pulling away late in each due to a few unforced errors and extraordinary efforts by the host team.

Set Results

Set 1: BYU 25/STAC 15

Set 2: BYU 25/STAC 16

Set 3: BYU 25/STAC 26

How it Happened

• As a team, BYU recorded 42 kills compared to STAC's 27. The Cougars also had 7.5 blocks and 40 assists, while the Spartans tallied 2 blocks and 25 assists.
• Brigham Young University outhit St. Thomas Aquinas College by a .597 to .161 margin for the match.
• Kyran Versteegen paced the Spartans offense with a team-high nine kills. He also had four digs.
• Marcus Franck tallied 21 serve assists (7.0 assists/set). Franck also accumulated two digs for the maroon and gold.
• Andre Cippiciani recorded six kills, an assist, a service ace and a block assist on the night.
• David Weiss put together a five kill, one service ace, and one dig effort against the Cougars.
• Jannis Freude (Oldenburg, Germany) registered three kills, two assists and a block assist in his second match for the Spartans.
• Raoul Kerkdijk picked up four kills and a block assist for STAC on Saturday evening.
• Freshman Alusine Kemokai (Linden, N.J.) made his season debut for the maroon and gold, and recorded a block assist in the third set of the match.

Thiago's Take

At the conclusion of Saturday's match, Head Coach Thiago Lopes shared his thoughts on the night's events.

"Despite the score, we showed more consistency and made a lot of progress tonight," stated Coach Lopes. "We were able to keep up with BYU in all three sets, however towards the end of the match they started to heat things up, which showed their level of experience. 

"As a second year program, I am proud of what I saw from from our guys over these last two days, but we have a lot of room to improve and that work starts again once we return to Sparkill", said Lopes. "What we saw and experienced from a very talented and disciplined BYU squad is the level that we want our program to compete at this season and for seasons to come."

Up Next

STAC returns to New York and will open the home portion of their 2025 schedule on Friday, January 17, when they host Barry University at the Spartan Athletic Complex. First serve is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and can be seen LIVE on the ECC Sports Network.