BYU picks up best wins of the year on final weekend of regular season

For the second night in a row, BYU topped Pepperdine at the Smith Fieldhouse Saturday, taking down the Waves 3-1 on senior night. 

The Cougars won on set scores of 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, and 25-17. BYU was ready to compete from the moment the match began, looking like the better team throughout the night.

“Credit to our passers,” Cougars coach Shawn Olmstead said. “(Our) passers did a great job and our hitters took really good swings.”

Special Collector's Issue: "1984: The Year BYU was Second to None"

Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football's 1984 National Championship season.

Buy Now

Olmstead’s squad had a lot to play for Saturday. Entering this weekend’s matches, BYU and Pepperdine had swapped places in the national rankings, with the Cougars dropping to eighth while their fellow MPSF squad moved up to seventh. 

BYU proved the rankings wrong, winning both matches to give the Cougars a likely third place finish in the MPSF, which should put them just ahead of the Waves, who end their season with an identical league record.

MPSF standings remain up in the air however, with a new process to decide how things shake out.

“The MPSF is … voting (on standings),” Olmstead said. “I have to go vote tonight. …We got to be (in third). I anticipate that. I’ve told the guys that, but it’s outside of our control.”

1 of 22

2 of 22

3 of 22

4 of 22

5 of 22

6 of 22

7 of 22

8 of 22

9 of 22

10 of 22

11 of 22

12 of 22

13 of 22

14 of 22

15 of 22

16 of 22

17 of 22

18 of 22

19 of 22

20 of 22

21 of 22

22 of 22

BYU controlled the evening though, earning arguably its best wins of the season this weekend. As the national rankings currently stand, Pepperdine is the highest ranked team that the Cougars have beaten this year, making senior night that much sweeter.

BYU led the entirety of the initial set Saturday, propelled by a scorching .619 hitting percentage with just one attacking error. The Cougars were led by senior outside hitter Luke Benson, who had a perfect hitting percentage in set one, getting BYU a comfortable win. 

“(Junior setter Tyler Herget) did a really good job of following … some patterns we saw with them defensively,” Olmstead said when asked about his team’s impressive start to the match.

“He set the right guys at the right time and I think through two sets we (hit) way up there.”

The Cougars continued to hit well in the second set (.423). Still, it was slightly closer than the prior set, with Pepperdine taking its first lead of the match early on.

Moments later though, a 5-0 BYU run punctuated by a trio of service aces from senior outside hitter Miks Ramanis took the wind out of the Waves’ sails and helped put the Cougars ahead the rest of the set. 

Olmstead was amazed by the performance of Ramanis, who continues to play through multiple injuries.

“I knew Miks would give his heart,” Olmstead said. “He doesn’t have the body (right now, but) he might have been our best player tonight.”

Despite the Cougars’ inspired performance, Pepperdine found new life in the third set, escaping BYU by the slimmest of margins to force a fourth.

After 14 ties and a successful coach’s challenge on the final point, the Waves got past the Cougars for the first and only time on the evening. 

BYU finished things off in the fourth set though, with another comfortable victory. Again led by Ramanis on the service line, the Cougars put together a run that all but put Pepperdine away.

Not even a timeout to regroup could stop the bleeding for the Waves, who helplessly watched BYU score seven straight points to go ahead 23-13 en route to the match clinching victory. 

The win marked the end of BYU’s regular season, with the MPSF tournament beginning next Tuesday. Though the school will not know its definitive seed until Sunday, it will likely begin tournament play Thursday.