PROVO, Utah — No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball secured the 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-16, 25-14) over Fort Valley State Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.
BYU outhit the Wildcats .468 to .197. The Cougars doubled FVSU’s kills 46-23 and had the advantage in service aces, 7-0, digs, 22-17, and set assists 40-21. The .468 hitting percentage is the second-best mark in a match this season for the Cougars.
“They took care of business,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said about his team. “I didn’t think we let down at all… I feel like we’ve been able to do some roster management, in a way. I’ve been really, really proud of what the guys that have come in have done.”
Trent Moser and Connor Oldani spearheaded the Cougar attack with 12 kills each in the win. Moser added two total blocks to go along with his .600 hitting percentage. The rest of Oldani’s statline featured four digs, two blocks and a service ace to help BYU in its victory. In addition, Max Philippe fortified the Cougar defense with a team-high three blocks.
Tyler Herget distributed 35 assists in the sweep to give him 11.67 assists per set, improving his average of 10.28 assists per set this season. That was the ninth best mark in the country coming into this weekend.
Off the bench, Tennison Lighthall came into the third set and produced five kills on six swings to go along with a block and a dig. Cottle also subbed into the third set and picked three kills.
The victory was Olmstead’s 199th as BYU men’s volleyball head coach and now gives him a chance to hit the 200-win plateau tomorrow night. He would become the second coach in the history of BYU men’s volleyball to hit that mark. A win would also put him just five wins behind Carl McGown’s 205 career wins, the most for a coach in the program’s history.
In the Cougars’ eight-game win streak, they have now won 24 consecutive sets, the most since winning 35 in a row in 2016.
Set 1
It started out with a 2-2 draw until two FVSU kills put BYU in an early two-point deficit. After a back-and-forth rally, another Wildcat kill had the Cougars behind three early. A Moser kill and a shared block by Philippe and Herget cut the deficit to one. Then, a 5-0 BYU run commenced behind two aces and a kill by Tufuga and a kill each by Moser and Philippe. Even with the Wildcats retaliating with two kills to tie it at 12 apiece, the Cougars immediately brought the lead back to three thanks to two FVSU errors. At the media timeout, BYU pulled ahead 15-12.
The production of Moser, Oldani and Gavin Chambers led the Cougar charge to a five-point lead to force a WIldcat timeout. BYU held steady and carried its momentum through the rest of the set. Tufuga, Philippe and Oldani both chipped in with another kill before Moser capped off the set with back-to-back kills. Moser had seven kills in the first set, as the Cougars would take the first set victory 25-18.
Set 2
BYU struck first in the second as Moser got a block then a kill on the first two points. Both Tufuga and Oldani tallied a kill to bring the lead to four. The Cougars then overcame two errors, and off of Moser and Oldani kills BYU kept a four-point advantage. Chambers picked up his first two kills of the match before Oldani extended the lead to six with an ace. Errors on both sides brought it to 15-10 at the break.
Tufuga and Oldani came out of the break swinging, getting a kill each leading to a FVSU timeout. The Cougars seized further control of the set with a Herget ace and Oldani’s ninth kill of the match, which pushed the lead to eight. An Oldani-Philippe block and Chambers’ third kill pushed the lead to 10, the largest lead BYU had to that point. The second set was put to rest behind Chambers and Moser kills, making it 25-16. The Cougars headed into the third set with a 2-0 match lead.
Set 3
BYU wasted no time and grabbed early momentum of the third set. Two Oldani kills and a Philippe kill put the Cougars in front 4-1. Lighthall came in off the bench and got his first kill of the match before a Trevor Herget kill put BYU ahead by four. Lighthall, Cottle and Moser kept the Cougar momentum alive, building the lead to six. Tyler Herget’s second ace of the match and Oldani’s 12th kill made the score 15-7 going into the TV timeout.
The Cougar lead kept growing to an eventual 11-point advantage to maintain control of the set. Cottle and Lighthall both got two kills in that span to bring the score to 21-10. BYU did not look back as Ian Little joined the party with his first kill before a Cottle ace and Lighthall’s fifth kill of the set wrapped up the match victory. The Cougars won the third 25-14, and the match 3-0.
Up Next
The same two teams will square up again tomorrow night at the Smith Fieldhouse, with a 7 p.m. MST start.