PROVO, Utah — The BYU men's volleyball team will play matches No. 3 and No. 4 this season at home in a Top-10 showdown against UC San Diego this weekend.
About the Cougars
The Cougars started off the season with back-to-back 3-0 sweeps over Saint Francis last weekend in a raucus Smith Fieldhouse. BYU started the season 2-0 for the fourth consecutive season.
Senior outside hitter Trent Moser led the way with a match-high 14 kills in Friday's match and followed that up with another double-digit effort the next night (11). He added four blocks on Friday and another on Saturday in what was Moser’s return to the BYU roster after spending last season with Grand Canyon. Moser hit .347 on the weekend.
Sophomore outside hitter Connor Oldani had a match-high and career-high 10 digs Friday night. He added another three digs on Saturday. The Grand Canyon transfer who played his first matches in a BYU uniform over the weekend also added five blocks in the two matches. His defensive efforts earned him the first MPSF Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season.
Along with Oldani, three other Cougars made their BYU debuts last weekend, including Kyle Zediker (another Grand Canyon transfer), Tyler Herget (freshman) and AJ Cottle (freshman).
Junior outside hitter Teilon-Jonathan Tafuga is hitting .526 this season. That's the ninth-best mark in the NCAA this season. Senior libero Jackson Fife is averaging 2.6 digs per set this season. That's 11th-best in the NCAA. Moser's 4.17 kills per set are also 11th-best in the NCAA. Senior setter Tyler Herget is averaging 9.40 assists per set, which is 17th-best in the nation.
About the Tritons
UC San Diego played three matches at home last week, defeating Jessup, Daemen and Rockhurst.
Junior outside hitter Josh Ewert led the Tritons with 34 kills over the three matches. That's the 10th-most kills in the NCAA this season. Other outside hitters Sebastiano Sani and Leo Pravednikov had 32 and 31 kills, respectivly, forming a balanced offensive attack.
Junior middle blocker Leo Wiemelt has a team-high 15 blocks this season, the third-most in the NCAA this season.
The Tritons were picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the preseason coaches' poll. That mirrors San Diego's finish at the end of the 2025 season.
UC San Diego is coached by Brad Rostratter who enters his fourth season at the helm.
All-Time Series
This weekend's matches will be the first between these two teams since February of 2022, when the Tritons came into the Smith Fieldhouse and picked up back-to-back five-set victories. Those were the first two UCSD wins over BYU men's volleyball in a long history, as BYU had won all 44 matches between to two teams before then. The series is now 44-2 in favor of the Cougars.
Broadcast Info
Both matches this weekend will be available to stream on BYUtv.org/the BYUtv app and also on Big Ten Plus. Friday's match will only be available live on Big Ten Plus. It will be available to watch on-demand via BYUtv after 10 p.m. Saturday's match can be viewed live on either platform.