PROVO, Utah — Trent Moser’s game-high 14 kills along with Tyler Herget’s 35 assists powered No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball over Saint Francis (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) in a 3-0 sweep.
For a team that lost a number of key contributors from last season, Moser’s return to the team after a season at Grand Canyon, combined with the emergence of both new and returning players, has the Cougars in a spot that Head Coach Shawn Olmstead is excited about.
“I’m happy for them,” Olmstead said. “They needed to get out here and shake their wings and get the rust off a little. I’m excited for everybody to see this team that we’ve seen, but it’s not close to the level these guys will be at.”
In the Cougar attack, returning junior Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga contributed nine kills in the victory. Freshman AJ Cottle cashed in eight kills on 10 swings and four blocks. Freshman Trevor Herget racked up three aces, including back-to-back aces on the first two serves of his collegiate career. Sophomore Connor Oldani added six kills and a career-high 10 digs. Oldani also transferred to BYU along with Moser.
“It feels so good to have this much support,” Moser said. “The first set today felt kind of weird, honestly. I felt like I was here yesterday. It’s been two years, so I’m happy to be back.”
BYU out-hit Saint Francis .310 to .164 in the win. The Cougars out-killed the Red Flash by 18 (42-24), digs by 14 (30-16), blocks by three (7-4) and had three less service errors (15-12).
Set 1
After a 2-2 start, which included a Moser kill as the first Cougar point of the season, BYU went on a 3-0 run. Back-to-back aces were recorded by Tufuga. The Cougars then added on a 4-0 run after some back-and-forth scoring. Moser and Gavin Chambers added to the kill count in the run. At the media timeout, the Cougars led 15-8.
The Red Flash countered BYU’s attack with a 5-0 run of their own and three consecutive aces in the run. Out of a Cougar timeout, Saint Francis chipped away BYU’s lead and tied it up 16-16.
The Cougars regained their lead thanks to kills by Tufuga, Cottle and two by Moser to go up 21-18. BYU capped off the set 25-22 with Moser’s seventh kill at set point to take a 1-0 match lead.
Set 2
The Red Flash were first to make a statement and began the set with a 3-0 run that included two Saint Francis kills. A Tufuga ace would then tie it 3-3 before the Red Flash gradually increased its lead to five, 14-9.
BYU responded to the deficit with a 6-1 run and took its first lead of the set at 16-15. Kills by Chambers, Oldani, and Moser along with three Cougar blocks attributed to the momentum swing.
After both squads traded points, the Cougar lead grew to four, 22-18, with freshman Trevor Herget posting back-to-back aces on the first two serves of his career. Tufuga closed out the set with three straight kills to help BYU win the second set 25-20.
Set 3
Following a 3-3 draw to start the third, Saint Francis tacked on a 3-0 run which included three BYU errors. Cottle then recorded three kills as BYU fought back to tie it up 7-7.
Each team exchanged scores until the Cougars took charge with two Moser kills and an Oldani kill in the midst of a 4-0 run. Then, Cottle got a kill and shared a block to extend BYU’s lead to six, 18-12, forcing a Red Flash timeout.
A string of errors from both sides, five by Saint Francis and three by BYU, made the score 23-16 in favor of the Cougars. A kill by Trevor Herget to force match point and another kill sealed the set and match to give BYU the 3-0 sweep over the Red Flash.
Up Next
These same two teams will face each other again tomorrow night at 7 p.m. The match can be viewed live on Big Ten Plus and on-demand at BYUtv.org and the BYUtv App after 10 p.m.