LOS ANGELES, Calif. — No. 10 BYU men’s volleyball lost in three sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-21) to No. 8 USC on Saturday at the Galen Center.
Gabi Garcia Fernandez led the Cougars with nine kills, just the second time this season he has been held to single digits. Davide Gardini and Felipe de Brito Ferreira each had two blocks, while Brody Earnest contributed 32 assists and Zach Hendrickson tied for a match-high eight digs.
BYU (12-10, 6-5 MPSF) went down 8-5 in the first set before it came back to tie it at 8 on Garcia Fernandez’s third kill. The Trojans (15-8, 6-4 MPSF) continued to attack, however and took a 14-10 lead to force BYU’s first timeout. USC extended its lead to five, 19-14, soon after to bring about another timeout from the Cougars. An ace from Alex Ah Sue brought the Cougars within four, 24-20, but the Trojans got a kill immediately after to win the first set, 25-20.
The Trojans jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the set two on a pair of errors from the Cougars. Back-to-back kills from USC extended the lead 9-4, leading to the first timeout of the set from BYU. USC went up by eight, 19-11, before BYU was able to bring it back within four, 22-18, on a kill from Ah Sue to force the Trojans’ first timeout. An ace from Gardini and a kill by de Brito Ferreira brought the Cougars within two, 24-22 before USC took set two on a kill from Ryan Moss on the following rally.
Zach Eschenberg got his first ace early in the third set to tie it up at 8. The Cougars took a brief lead, 14-13, on a Trojan error before once again falling behind, 15-14. A USC service error put BYU back in front, 18-17, but a block from the Trojans gave them a 21-19 lead soon after. USC was able to extend its lead to three, 23-20, on Jack Wyett’s 10th kill of the night, and took the set and match soon after, 25-21.
BYU will play its final match of the regular season next against Grand Canyon on Apr. 4 at 7 p.m. MDT in Phoenix. Live streaming and stats can be found on the schedule page.