NORTH ANDOVER, MA - The Merrimack College men's volleyball team will host one of the top programs in the country at Sakowich Center on Monday.
The No. 8 Brigham Young University Cougars continue their East Coast road trip after competing in the Harvard Invitational over the weekend, a two-game tournament the Warriors competed in, as well.
"We got a chance to watch them (Friday) against Lincoln Memorial," Merrimack head coach Hayden West-Mather said. "They're really big. They're really talented. But we can only gain (from facing them). There's nothing to lose from it."
The contest is set for 6 p.m.
"I think we're really excited," West-Mather said. "The guys have a new kind of focus, I think, coming into these big matches. This will be our fourth top-20 opponent from the preseason rankings so a lot of really tough volleyball. And we've had to battle through a lot of stuff. We're just hoping we've learned enough to translate that to the latter games in our season, start putting some W's on the schedule."
Through the first six games of the season, the Warriors are led by sophomore hitter Dallas Birkenbeuel (82 kills). Max Tkachev (60 kills) leads the team in service aces this season while Reece Lindstrom is up to 164 assists after combining for 45 in the Harvard Invitational. Blake Taschner (44 kills, 34 digs) also has been largely impactful along with libero Kyle Standage (team-high 53 digs).
