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On the eve of their monster NCAA men's volleyball semifinal match against Stanford, the BYU Cougars received some good news on Wednesday night. BYU outside hitter Taylor Sander is the 2014 AVCA Player of the Year. A senior, the 6-foot-4 Sander adds the most prestigious individual honor in men's volleyball to the MPSF Player of the Year award he won two weeks ago. He was also the MPSF tournament MVP last Saturday. From Huntington Beach, Calif., Sander leads the nation in points per set with 5.43 and is second in the nation in kills per set at 4.55. He owns a .336 hitting percentage this season and adds 1.56 digs per contest.Sander is the BYU career kills leader with 1,715 and has 178 career aces, also a school record. The Cougars (21-8) meet Stanford at 5 p.m. MDT on Thursday in Chicago as they attempt to make it to the national title match for the second straight year.