No. 6 BYU faces arguably its toughest tests of the season this week at No. 3 Hawaii and could hardly be more primed for such a matchup.
The Cougars have been on a tear ever since falling to now No. 4 UC Irvine last month, sweeping every opponent since then for nine consecutive wins and 27 straight perfect sets.
“We’ve been able to manage things and not have a letdown,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Our guys have really responded.”
“As we went over this stretch, I felt like our team was performing (at a) high level. (This could) be really good for us to (play) right before we go to conference (play). … But whatever comes of those matches, I think that’s going to be really good and I think more valuable now than a bye week.”
— BYU coach Shawn Olmstead
The hot streak started when the Cougars took down current No. 12 UC Santa Barbara two nights in a row on the road, then took care of business in three matches on an East Coast trip with contests against then-ranked No. 20 Lincoln Memorial followed by Harvard and Merrimack.
“I’m just proud that our guys have … maintained that focus through those stretches,” Olmstead said. “That’s not easy, especially being on the road.”
The school’s last four wins have come in a pair of meetings with Menlo, to open MPSF play, before last weekend’s drubbing of Fort Valley State on Friday and Saturday.
BYU now turns its attention to Hawaii for a pair of contests in the Aloha State that were not initially on the Cougars’ schedule. The two matches were added to the slate at the beginning of the month after a previously-scheduled tournament for the Rainbow Warriors was cancelled and BYU had an opening the same week.
When Donan Cruz, an assistant coach at Hawaii, reached out to Olmstead, the Cougars jumped at the opportunity, despite the late notice.
“I got out of practice one day with a multitude of text messages from Donan,” Olmstead said. “I called him immediately. … I brought our captains in (to tell them and) they couldn’t contain themselves.”
The match comes at a great time for the school, giving it a chance to test its mettle at a crucial point in its season.
“As we went over this stretch, I felt like our team was performing (at a) high level,” Olmstead said. “(This could) be really good for us to (play) right before we go to conference (play). … But whatever comes of those matches, I think that’s going to be really good and I think more valuable now than a bye week.”
BYU has not beat Hawaii in the schools’ last four meetings, its last triumph coming in 2020 at the Stan Sheriff Center just a week before the remainder of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former conference rivals’ most recent meeting took place a year ago in the Smith Fieldhouse with the Warriors winning both matches. It marked Hawaii’s fifth and sixth victories all-time against the Cougars in Provo, compared to 25 setbacks.
The Warriors have had the better of BYU in recent years, having topped the Cougars in the 2021 national championship — the last year the Provo school made the NCAA tournament. Hawaii then went on to win the title the next season, before falling to UCLA in a three-peat attempt in 2023.
Olmstead knows the test that lies ahead.
“It’s not a vacation in any way, shape or form,” he said of his team’s trip to Hawaii. “We keep (our players) out of the sun and we keep them in team meetings and practice and weight lifting.”
The real lifting will continue for the Cougars when they hit the floor against the Warriors. Hawaii again has lofty aspirations this season, its No. 3 ranking the highest BYU will have faced to date.
The Warriors also entered the week holding a win streak of nine straight matches, their lone loss of the season coming at the hands of current No. 8 Loyola Chicago on Jan. 9. All but two of Hawaii’s nine consecutive wins have been sweeps, with the last five coming on the road as the school will return to Honolulu for its first home match in over a month when it faces BYU.
Something will have to give when the Cougars and Warriors face off twice this week, as one school’s nine straight wins won’t turn into 10. The first match will take place Wednesday and the second Friday, scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. MST, respectively.
