PROVO, Utah – No. 8 BYU took down No. 10 UC San Diego for a third sweep in a row to start the season Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
Connor Oldani led the Cougars, recording a career-high 16 kills. The sophomore from Phoenix, Arizona hit a career-high .750 and recorded three blocks.
After recording the first block of his collegiate career, AJ Cottle recorded a total of three blocks. He added six kills on .500 hitting and added his first career ace. The freshman from Provo who head coach Shawn Olmstead referred to as “AJ Da-bounce-sa” made his third start in a row to start his career.
Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga had six kills while tallying a pair of aces and blocks with teammate Gavin Chambers, recording three kills on a .750 hitting percentage, while assisting on three blocks.
Senior Trent Moser had four kills, adding an ace and two digs, with fellow senior Tyler Herget recording 27 assists and tallying a block in the sweep for the Cougars.
"I thought Herget did exactly what we wanted him to do," head coach Olmstead said. "We wanted to establish the middle of the court early and then extend the court from there. Connor got a lot of swings with Tyler on the run like that. Our hitters and attackers made smart plays."
BYU never trailed by more than one point in any of the sets, while never trailing in the second set.
Set 1
Both teams came out hot, trading points down the stretch before the Cougars went on a 5-2 run to take the lead 9-7. The run featured kills by BYU's Cottle and Moser.
An error by UC San Diego followed by an ace from Chambers sparked a 4-2 BYU run, highlighted by an extended rally that ended with a kill by Oldani, who started the match with seven kills on his seven swings in the first set, hitting .1000.
The Tridents and the Cougars went back-and-forth, trading points with Chambers and Oldani each recording kills down the stretch before a UC San Diego ace forced a BYU timeout. The Cougars went up 22-19 after an Oldani kill, followed by an ace, forced the Tridents to take a timeout of their own.
BYU then closed out the set on a 3-1 run, featuring kills from junior Tufuga and Oldani, with Cottle getting the final point on the first service ace of his career to take the set 25-21.
Both teams hit the ball efficiently in the first set, with the Cougars hitting .700, with zero attack errors, and the Tridents hitting .474.
Set 2
BYU started the set with an over-pass-kill by Tufuga, followed by an ace, before Cottle recorded a solo block putting the Cougars up 5-2 early. Cottle then sparked a solo 3-1 Cougars run where he recorded three kills, forcing a Tridents timeout with BYU leading 8-4.
UC San Diego fought back with an ace served at 79 miles per hour, sparking a 3-0 run, forcing a Cougar timeout with the score knotted at nine apiece. BYU responded with a block from Chambers assisted by Tufuga, an OPK from Moser and an ace from Tufuga led to a UC San Diego timeout with the Cougars leading by four.
The Tridents and Cougars traded cross-court kills before Herget recorded a roof-block, assisted by Cottle, to put BYU up 17-13. A BYU ace from Moser followed by kills from Tufuga and Oldani contributed to a 5-3 run that put the Cougars ahead 22-18. Oldani finished the set off, recording two kills on the last three scores for BYU, with the Cougars winning the set 25-19.
The Cougars never trailed in the entire second set.
Set 3
BYU opened up the set on a 3-1 run, featuring kills from Oldani and Chambers before back-to-back kills from the Tridents tied the score at four each. Cottle then recorded his third block of the night, ushering in a 5-2 Cougars run where he also recorded another kill.
BYU kept its momentum after Oldani recorded his career-high 13th kill to give the Cougars a 10-8 lead. That sparked an all-Oldani 5-2 run highlighted by a block and another kill from the sophomore forcing a Trident timeout.
After a UC San Diego kill was called out, it was challenged for a touch before going out of bounds. In an unusual set of circumstances, the Cougars admitted to a touch to avoid a review delay up 14-10.
BYU then went on a 5-1 run that featured kills from Oldani and Cottle, causing UC San Diego to take another timeout. Out of the break, the Tridents showed some life, recording back-to-back kills and an ace to close the gap to four with BYU up 20-16.
The Cougars finished out the set on a 4-1 run that featured a solo block from Oldani and a triple block by Tufuga, Oldani and Chambers. The Cougars finished off a sweep of the Tridents on a service error by the Tridents with a final score of 25-19.
Up Next
BYU hosts a rematch of tonight's match against UC San Diego on Saturday January 17th at 7 p.m. MST at the Smith Fieldhouse with streaming on Big Ten Plus, on BYUtv.org and on the BYUtv app.