After a stellar 6-0 start to the college volleyball season that included four road victories against ranked opponents, BYU’s dream start came crashing back to earth with four consecutive losses to close out January and open February.
That difficult stretch was the first time in three years that the Cougars have endured such a skid.
The four losses came against some of the best teams in the country, No. 3 UC Irvine and No. 4 Hawaii, however, that didn’t make it any easier to swallow. The Cougars looked poised to win a contest in both two-match series before collapsing late in the fifth set on both occasions.
“It just goes to show that throughout this season, we’re going to have a lot of tough battles, adversity that we need to face,” BYU sophomore outside hitter Teilon-Jonathan Tafuga said. “But at the end of the day, that’s the life of being an athlete, right? You have to go through these things so that we can continue to appreciate the (good) moments.”
The Cougars have learned from their setbacks and made plenty of good moments since then, rattling off six straight victories.
“Any loss, no matter who you’re playing … can be something that kind of brings you down,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “(It maybe) deflates you a little bit. You kind of put your head down a little. The guys haven’t done that. … (I’m) just really proud (of) the guys after those losses.”
The positive attitude began with BYU’s head coach as he has focused on the good that his team displayed during the most challenging stretch.
“There was very little disappointment from me (about our losing streak),” Olmstead said. “Because I think our guys competed and competed well. … So I think there’s actually a lot to take from that, and I think the guys did.”
Part of what has helped the Cougars get back on track during its four-match win streak is contests against unranked foes. Four of the six victories have come against Concordia and Barry, teams outside the AVCA poll, and the other two were against No. 16 UC Santa Barbara. Those six matches haven’t quite reached the level of competition BYU faced in the grueling stretch to start the season that included 10 of 12 contests against teams with numbers in front of their names.
Despite the talent of the competition lessening, Olmstead praised his players’ resilience, bouncing back from heartbreaking defeats that could have turned the season for the worse.
“A bunch of those losses were five-setters, long ones, where we had good leads,” he said. “At times some teams don’t recover from that, (but we) did.”
Those losses gave the Cougars the chance to look at their weaknesses and find ways to improve. That is exactly what the team has done, emphasizing those deficiencies in practices since the frustrating defeats.
“We all hate losing, but it’s so good for you,” BYU junior setter Tyler Herget said. “It’s so good for any team just because you know what you then need to work on. … Our coaches are great, they’ve really emphasized what we need to work on together as a team and so I think we’ve been working on it in practice to do that.”
The school’s hard work has been paying off, earning three sweeps, two MPSF victories, and picking up steam during the win streak.
Still, the season likely will bring more challenges, but BYU is eager to keep getting better together.
“We’re continuing to learn the importance of tenacity … being resilient,” Tafuga said. “I think that’s the most important thing that our team’s going to continue to learn. … What a great group of guys to do it.”
Tafuga and the Cougars get the week off before resuming league contests March 7-8 in the Smith Fieldhouse against No. 5 USC. If the Trojans hold on to their ranking, they will be a barometer of sorts for BYU in its first shot at a top-five opponent since its four-match losing streak.
