PROVO, Utah — No. 9 BYU men's volleyball hosts No. 6 Pepperdine this weekend for two Top-10 matches in the Smith Fieldhouse this weekend.
Back Home and Back in the Win Column
After six straght matches on the road and some tough losses to Hawai’i and Stanford, BYU was back home last weekend to face Concordia Irvine. The Cougars responded well with two dominant sweeps, starting what they hope will be a new winning streak. The Cougars had a nine-match and 27-set winning streak earlier this season.
Nearing 205 Wins for Olmstead
In his 11th season with the BYU men’s volleyball program, head coach Shawn Olmstead recently hit the 200-win plateau, and he is now just one win away from matching Carl McGown for the program’s most wins for a head coach (205). McGown reached those victories in 336 matches. Olmstead is currently at 286 total matches.
Still Top-10
After starting of the season at No. 8 in the AVCA poll for the first five weeks of the season, the Cougars moved up a spot to No. 7 for a few weeks. A few road losses pushed the Cougars back to No. 10 last week, but they bounced back to No. 9 this week after dominant victories over Conocordia Irvine.
En-Trent-ched Offense
Senior outside hitter Trent Moser continues to lead the Cougars offensively this season with 3.37 kills per set on a .344 hitting percentage. Moser had a career-high 22 kills in BYU’s five-set loss to Stanford two weeks ago. In last weekend’s sweeps he had an efficient eight kills on 13 swings and seven kills on 14 swings.
Un-Herget-able Passing
Senior setter Tyler Herget is averaging 10.25 assists per set. That mark is second-best in the MPSF and sixth-best in the nation. Herget is 29 assists away from 2500 for his career. Only six other BYU players have hit that mark in the BYU rally-scoring era.
Depth Contributions
The Cougars have been able to get contributions from a number of players this season, with 12 players having played 25 sets or more. That depth has come into play, helping fill in after injuries and to provide a number of viable offensive and defensive options.
Block Stars
BYU is currently 10th in the NCAA in blocks per set at 2.392. Gavin Chambers is the Cougars’ individual leader with 1.042 blocks per set and 75 total blocks this season. His blocks per set are 10th-best individually in the NCAA.
Getting to Know Pepperdine
The Waves are 15-4 this season. They have a marquee win over No. 3 Hawai’i on the road. Three of their four losses have come to teams in the top five of the national rankings. Pepperdine has won eight of its last nine matches, 11 of its last 13, and are undefeated at 6-0 in MPSF play. The Waves ran second in the nation in aces per set at 2.45, fourth in the country in hitting percentage at .369 and ninth in the country in both blocks per set (2.478) and assists per set (11.82). Individually, Cole Hartke will be the Wave to watch as he leads the nation in attacks per set (9.14) and kills per set (4.47).
Series Snapshot
BYU leads the all-time series 45-36 and has won six matches in a row over Pepperdine. The two teams last met in the final matches of the regular season last year, with the Cougars winning 3-2 and 3-1. Pepperdine’s last win over BYU came in the 2022 MPSF quarterfinals.
Broadcast Details
Both matches this weekend will stream live on BYUtv.org/the BYUtv App and also on Big Ten Plus.