No. 10 BYU men's volleyball sweeps Vanguard after back-to-back Pepperdine losses

No. 10 BYU men's volleyball bounced back after two home losses to Pepperdine with a sweep over Vanguard.

In their first meeting, the Cougars earned a 3-0 MPSF victory Thursday night in Costa Mesa, California, winning 25-17, 25-15, 25-20.

The win improved BYU to 18-8 overall and 5-4 in MPSF play.

BYU's offense was balanced throughout the match. Connor Oldani led the Cougars with 11 kills on 27 swings with no errors, posting a .407 hitting percentage. Teflon-Jonathan Tufuga followed with eight kills. AJ Cottle added five kills, while Trent Moser and Gavin Chambers each contributed four to BYU's total of 34 kills.

As a team, the Cougars finished with a .430 hitting percentage.

Tyler Herget led BYU with 30 assists, and Jackson Fife recorded 12 digs, marking the fifth time he has reached that total, tying his career high.

BYU totaled seven blocks, with six coming from Cottle.

The Cougars opened the first set with a 5-0 run behind Herget's serving, fueled by kills from Oldani and Tufuga. Vanguard attempted to close the gap, but BYU maintained control throughout the set. The Cougars never trailed, and Oldani ended the set with a kill from Herget, 25-17.

Vanguard kept the second set close early, with the teams tied through the first seven points. BYU then pulled away behind a solo block from Moser and kills from Cottle, Tufuga and Oldani. Chambers added a service ace to extend the lead to 15-11.

Oldani delivered a kill to bring the Cougars to set point, followed by a service ace from Tufuga to cap a 13-4 run and seal the set, 25-15.

BYU jumped out to an early lead in the third set, helped by Vanguard errors and back-to-back service aces from Tufuga. Although both teams traded errors late, the Cougars maintained their advantage.

A kill from Cole Hauser secured the sweep, 25-20.

The match lasted just one hour and 13 minutes.

BYU returns to face Vanguard again Friday night at 8 p.m. MDT.