SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — No. 9 BYU men’s volleyball swept UC Santa Barbara 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 27-25) on Saturday evening in Robertson Gymnasium, defeating the No. 15 Gauchos in back-to-back nights.
Trent Moser and Miks Ramanis led the offense with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. BYU's starting setter Tyler Herget finished with 40 assists, two aces and a match-high five digs. Gavin Julien and Kupono Browne both recorded five blocks, a season-high for Browne.
The Cougars (5-1) boasted a season-high .455 hitting percentage, holding the Gauchos (2-5) to a .250 clip. BYU also recorded 46 kills compared to UCSB's 32.
Set One
Kupono Browne kicked things off for the Cougars with an ace. After exchanging ties at four and five, the Cougars gained a two-point lead at 7-5 after a UCSB service error and Teon Taylor kill. Neither team had more than a one-point advantage again until BYU's Herget recorded a kill for a 12-10 score, with BYU on top.
The first 3-0 run by either team in set one didn’t happen until BYU reached 21 points, leading 21-19 after a Browne kill, Herget ace and Gaucho attack error. The Cougars took a timeout down one point at 23-22 and would go on to earn the next two points, including a block by Browne to give BYU a set-point at 24-23. The Gauchos handed BYU the set after an attack error, concluding set one at 25-23 in favor of the Cougars.
Set Two
With a three-point lead at 8-5, the Cougars had already recorded six kills in the second set. Back-to-back kills by Moser boosted BYU’s lead to 10-6. The Cougars achieved their largest lead of the night to that point at 13-8 when Ramanis got his fifth kill of the night. BYU used its first timeout at 13-11, leading by two.
Another back-to-back play by Moser took the score to 18-14, forcing UCSB to take a timeout. After winning six of the next 10 points, a kill by Teon Taylor gave BYU a 23-18 lead. Set two ended the same as the previous one, with a UCSB attack error for a 25-20 BYU victory, and the Cougars held a 2-0 advantage.
Set Three
The beginning of the third set included multiple errors from the service line, with the score reaching 8-7 after the set’s sixth service error, BYU up one. Later, the Cougars would take a timeout at 15-14, down just one point after a 3-0 UCSB run. A kill by Browne, his ninth of the night, evened the set at 17.
Sophomore Ian Little came off the bench and recorded the first ace of his career to give BYU a 20-18 edge, with the Cougars looking to sweep. BYU then sent Jon Stanley to the service line when leading 22-21, but the Gauchos evened it at 22 after a kill by Owen Loncar. With a match point at 24-22 for the Cougars, UCSB fought back to even it at 24 after of a block and kill. But an ace by Tyler Herget and kill by Ramanis ended the set at 27-25 for a dominant 3-0 BYU victory.
Up Next
The Cougars return to the Smith Fieldhouse after a two-week road trip to host Princeton in a pair of matches, beginning on Monday, January 22 at 7 p.m. MST, with a live broadcast on BYUtv and byutv.org.