The BYU men’s volleyball team lost to top-ranked UCLA on Apr. 18, ending their regular season with a 3-1 defeat (21-25, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25) in Westwood, California.
This match concluded the Cougars’ regular season with a record of 20 wins and 10 losses overall and a conference record of 7-6. The outcome determines their momentum heading into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament set to begin this week at home.
During Saturday night’s game, BYU started strong by winning the first set and holding late leads in both the third and fourth sets. However, UCLA managed to rally each time for the victory. Connor Oldani led BYU with 16 kills while Trent Moser contributed another 13. Cole Hauser added four kills after coming off the bench for the third and fourth sets. AJ Cottle led defensively with six blocks and Tyler Herget recorded 41 assists.
The opening set saw numerous ties before BYU pulled ahead with key plays including back-to-back aces from Hauser and a combo block from Herget, Moser, and Gavin Chambers that secured the set win at 25-21. Despite hitting .733 without errors in that first frame, BYU could not maintain control as UCLA took over during crucial moments in subsequent sets.
Looking forward, tournament seeding will be announced Sunday ahead of Wednesday’s start to postseason play at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo.
