No. 10 BYU earned its first top five win in two years Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse, taking down No. 4 USC in four sets in arguably the Cougars’ best performance of the season.
BYU snapped a four-match losing streak to the Trojans on set scores of 25-23, 20-25, 30- 28, 25-18.
“I’m unbelievably proud of the guys,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “There (were) a lot of things that we can take from (tonight) and hopefully continue to build on.”
The Cougars were due for a breakthrough match after multiple upset bids fell short earlier this season.
“We lost to Irvine at the beginning of the year, we lost to Pepperdine a few weeks ago,” BYU senior outside hitter Trent Moser said. “(Those were) two top five teams at the time, and so it’s nice to finally get up on one of them.”
Struggling to close matches strong has been one of BYU’s biggest weaknesses against top tier opponents this season, but on Friday it was the Trojans who were on their heels by the end of the evening, as the Cougars never faltered down the stretch.
“I can’t shy away from the fact that throughout this season, that’s been a little bit of a struggle for us to close things out,” Olmstead said. “I was proud of the guys not getting rattled.”
BYU showed great composure in the initial set, remaining ahead by the slimmest of margins through its first half. However, USC took momentum and the lead from the Cougars midway through the set following a 4-0 run, which looked like it might make all the difference in such a close set.
A late BYU surge, though, got the Cougars back ahead and ultimately a two-point victory.
USC started the next set hot, scoring five of the first six points and remaining in control before BYU’s defense at the net stiffened, bringing the Cougars back and helping them get their first lead at 12-11.
A pair of service aces from Trojans sophomore outside hitter Sterling Foley got the visitors back on track though, giving USC a slight edge as it did just enough the rest of the way to hold on and tie the match at one set apiece.
But BYU’s front row continued to make its presence felt throughout the match, making all the difference in the Cougars’ victory.
“We got really good touches,” Olmstead said. “The big deal that is not going to show up in a single stat is the amount of touches we got.”
Another thing that didn’t show up in the stats was the knockout punch BYU landed in the third set.
The Cougars took a quick 4-1 lead, but USC tightened things up from there, with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage the remainder of the set.
A timely service ace from Cougars freshman outside hitter Trevor Herget put BYU ahead 25-24 and brought the fans to their feet, and the crowd remained loud to the set’s end as the home school came within one set of taking the match.
The Cougars could do little wrong in the final set, using the momentum from the third to power past the Trojans. USC seemed rattled from the prior set, making error after error as BYU’s lead grew to as many as nine points.
When the dust settled, the Cougars earned a lopsided seven-point victory in a set that turned into a mere formality.
“It’s super satisfying,” Olmstead said, “but we got another one tomorrow night, and (it’s) a big time opportunity.”
BYU will try to have a similar outcome when it faces USC Saturday evening at the Smith Fieldhouse for the Cougars’ senior night.