LOS ANGELES — After a bye week, the Cougars travel to USC to compete in the 2024 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament and will face the six-seeded Trojans in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. PDT, with live coverage on FloVolleyball.
COUGARS (16-8, 7-5 MPSF)
The MPSF announced its 2024 awards Tuesday afternoon, with Luke Benson named to the All-MPSF First Team, Miks Ramanis on the All-MPSF Second Team, Kupono Browne on the All-MPSF Second Team and Teon Taylor with an Honorable Mention. Benson and Browne were first-time recipiants of an all-conference award. Ramanis was previously named to the 2022 MPSF All-Freshman Team and 2023 All-MPSF First Team. Taylor was also named to the 2022 MPSF All-Freshman Team.
The Cougars remained at No. 6 in Week 15 of the AVCA Coaches Poll. Overall, BYU has been ranked in the top-10 since February 6, 2023 for a total of 28 consecutive weeks in a row. BYU’s highest rank this year has been six, with four previous rankings at number six.
Since becoming the BYU men’s volleyball head coach in 2016, Shawn Olmstead has coached the Cougars to four 20-win seasons and three MPSF Tournament Championships, with the most recent title occurring in 2021 where the Cougars reached the NCAA National Championship match.
TROJANS (12-14, 3-9 MPSF)
USC also collected four All-MPSF recognitions this week, with Dillon Klein named to the All-MPSF Second Team, freshmen Caleb Blanchette and Welsey Smith named to the MPSF All-Freshman team and Kyle Paulson given an Honorable Mention.
The Trojans’ 2.43 blocks per set ranks second in the MPSF and is seventh in the nation. USC has produced 12 matches in double-digit blocks and set a season-high mark with 15.5 blocks against No. 4 Ohio State on Jan. 20. In all, USC has out-blocked its opponent 15 times this season.
COUGARS VS TROJANS
BYU split games against USC in its final two matches of the regular season, winning 3-1 on Apr. 5 and falling 3-2 on Apr. 6. BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead has never lost to USC in Provo as his overall record against USC is 14-4, with all four losses occurring on the road.
2024 MPSF TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals - Wednesday, April 17
- No. 7 Concordia Irvine vs. No. 2 Grand Canyon at 3 p.m. PDT
- No. 6 USC vs No. 3 BYU at 5:30 p.m. PDT
- No. 5 Pepperdine vs. No. 4 Stanford at 8 pm. PDT
Semifinals - Thursday, April 18
- Lowest remaining seed vs. No. 1 UCLA at 4:30 p.m. PDT
- Highest-seeded quarterfinal winners at 7 p.m. PDT
Championship - Saturday, April 20
- Semifinal winners at 6 p.m. PDT