Strength of Schedule
BYU will host two teams in Provo that qualified for the NCAA Tournament a season ago, including 2023 national champion UCLA. Grand Canyon University appeared in the 2023 NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, falling to Long Beach State 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
The Cougars will also face the Long Island University Sharks for the first time in program history in February at the Smith Fieldhouse. LIU defeated top-seeded Saint Francis 3-0 to capture the inaugural 2023 Northeast Conference men's volleyball championship. Long Island University officially added a men's volleyball program to its athletic department in 2022.
The Cougars in 2024
In 2023, BYU men’s volleyball achieved a perfect 14-0 home record in the Smith Fieldhouse, with a 19-7 overall record. The team finished with 1,220 kills, 1,157 assists, 117 aces, 786 digs and 259 blocks in 2023. Head coach Shawn Olmstead also accomplished 150 career wins as the BYU men’s volleyball head coach when the Cougars defeated Stanford in four sets on April 14, 2023.
The Cougars bring back outside hitter Miks Ramanis who was an all-American honorable mention by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as part of its 2023 awards. It was the sophomore’s first honor from the AVCA. Ramanis was also named to the 2023 All-MPSF First Team. Middle blocker Gavin Julien was named 2023 All-MPSF Honorable Mention and Trent Moser was named to the 2023 MPSF All-Freshman Team. Both Julien and Moser return for the 2024 season.
On the defensive side, junior middle blocker Teon Taylor returns as a 2023 finalist for Off the Block’s Blocker of the Year, finishing the 2023 season with a career-high of 14 solo blocks and 135 total blocks.
