COSTA MESA, Calif. — No. 10 BYU men’s volleyball earned another win over Vanguard on Friday night, sweeping the match and the weekend series.
The win improves BYU to 19-8 overall and 6-4 in MPSF play.
The victory also gives BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead 206 career wins, passing his former coach and mentor, Carl McGown, for the most in program history. McGown reached 205 wins in 336 matches. Olmstead recorded his 206th win in 290 matches.
Trevor Herget led BYU with 10 kills, one assist, two aces, six digs and a career-high five blocks.
Connor Oldani added eight kills, two aces and one dig.
AJ Cottle had six kills and eight blocks, his second-highest total this season.
Ian Little made the start and recorded career highs with eight digs and four blocks.
BYU hit .287 for the match, while Vanguard hit .070.
Set 1
Unlike the previous night, when the Cougars opened with a 5-0 lead, the first set was tightly contested early, with ties at 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6.
Vanguard took an 8-6 lead, but BYU responded to tie it at 10-10 on a block by Cottle and then took an 11-10 lead on an Oldani ace.
The Cougars held the lead for the remainder of the set. Kills from Herget, an ace from Cole Hauser and a kill by Cottle helped BYU secure a 25-20 set win.
Set 2
After a long rally to open the set, BYU took a 1-0 lead on a block by Cottle. A Cottle kill made it 2-0, and he contributed to additional blocks as BYU extended its lead to 4-1 and 5-1.
The Cougars maintained a lead of at least four points for the rest of the set.
Herget closed the set with his fourth block of the night to give BYU a 25-18 win.
Set 3
BYU opened the third set with a 7-1 lead, highlighted by back-to-back blocks.
Vanguard responded with a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 9-8.
The teams traded points from there, and a Vanguard ace tied the set at 14-14.
A kill and an ace by Herget gave BYU a 19-16 lead, and the Cougars pulled away from there.
An Oldani ace sealed the 25-20 set win.
Up next
BYU returns home to the Smith Fieldhouse next weekend for its final regular-season matches against No. 4 USC.