SAN DIEGO -- With playoff seeding still on the line, the fourth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team held on to fourth place in the MPSF and improved its current win streak to nine straight matches on Tuesday, holding off UC San Diego 30-27, 30-26, 23-30, 30-26. With the win the Cougars improved to 20-5, 14-5 on the season, while the Tritons, who had won three straight home matches coming into the night, fell to 6-22, 1-20.
BYU All-American Mike Wall led the Cougars with a match-high 18 kills. Joaquin Acosta posted 12 kills, while Chris Gorny and Rafael Paal had 11 kills each. Gorny led the Cougars defensively, posting six blocks, while Paal added five.
After hanging tough in game one, the Tritons nearly evened the match against the Cougars, taking a 25-23 lead late in game two. But BYU rallied for a 30-26 victory and, after UCSD took game three, BYU closed the match with a decisive victory in game four. The Cougars hit a blistering .520 at the net, while holding the Tritons to a .103 average in the final game of the match.
The Cougars will take on UC San Diego again on Wednesday, beginning at 7 p.m. (PDT) at RIMAC Arena. The Cougars need to maintain at least a fourth-place standing in the MPSF in order to host a first-round tournament match on April 20.