COSTA MESA, Calif. — In the first all-time meeting between the two teams, No. 10 BYU picked up a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-20) MPSF win over the Vanguard Lions Thursday night.
BYU made quick work of Vanguard, with the match lasting just one hour and 13 minutes.
The Cougars are now 18-8 this season and 5-4 in MPSF play.
The Cougars were led by Connor Oldani who had 11 kills on 27 swings with no errors. Teflon-Jonathan Tufuga added eight kills, AJ Cottle had five and both Trent Moser and Gavin Chambers had four.
Tufuga also had a career-high five aces in the match.
Jackson Fife tied his career high with 12 digs in the match. The senior has hit that mark five times in his career.
Cottle led BYU with six blocks in the match.
BYU outhit Vanguard .291 to .077.
Set 1
BYU started out on fire with Tyler Herget serving and the Cougars racking up the first five points of the match. The run included kills by Tufuga and Oldani along with a Herget ace.
The Cougars would maintain a three-to-seven point cushion for the rest of the set.
Oldani won the set for BYU with a kill from the back row, his fourth kill on eight swings so far, securing the set at 25-17.
BYU outhit Vanguard .478 to .143 in the first set.
Set 2
The second set started out much closer than the first. The set was tied at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7.
The first two-point lead of the set came off an Oldani kill to make it 9-7 for BYU. Vanguard bounced back with a kill of its own and then Cottle responded with a kill to make it 10-8.
BYU ended the set on a 13-4 run, with a Tufuga ace finishing things off to win the set 25-15.
Set 3
A 6-0 run with kills from Moser and Oldani and back-to-back aces from Tufuga got BYU out to a 10-4 lead in the third set, and that was pretty much all the Cougars needed.
Tennison Lighthall and Cole Hauser subbed into the set late, with Houser getting the decisive kill to win the match for the Cougars.
Up Next
The two teams will square off again tomorrow night in Costa Mesa. The match can be viewed on Big Ten Plus.