No. 6 Pepperdine remained unbeaten in MPSF play Friday night in Provo, taking down No. 9 BYU in four sets and handing the Cougars their third home setback of the season.
The Waves broke an otherwise even match open late in the third set, ultimately cruising to their seventh league victory. Pepperdine’s win came on set scores of 25-21, 19-25, 25-23 and 25-15.
“We (had a) really funky start,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said after the match. “(I) felt like our guys were just trying to do too much. … Once you saw us just hitting the way we need to hit, and just doing things correctly, you saw us kind of come (back).”
It still wasn’t quite enough, as Olmstead’s squad dropped its fifth straight match against a ranked opponent.
Entering the weekend, the Cougars had won six straight matches against Pepperdine, the Waves’ last win in Provo coming a decade ago.
“Credit to Pepperdine,” Olmstead said. “It’s tough to play here, been tough to play here, but it didn’t seem to impact them.”
Pepperdine scored the first four points of the initial set before BYU rallied to take a 15-14 lead on a 5-0 run. The Waves soon regained control of the set though, scoring six of the next seven points and pulling away for the win.
The Cougars were unable to capitalize on their visitors’ seven service errors, ultimately hitting -.037 in the set on just nine kills against Pepperdine’s 5.5 blocks.
“It got fairly close there in the first set,” Olmstead said. “They ran away at the end … but it just felt like (we) were definitely trying to overdo too much.”
BYU figured things out and had a timely run in the second set. The Cougars outscored the Waves 7-1 to take a 21-15 advantage before coasting to the finish line from there.
The Provo school rectified its poor hitting percentage, swinging things in its favor with a .458 percentage in the second frame.
Pepperdine punched back though, using a strong finish to take the third set. The Waves hit a scorching .571 in the set and finished things off on a 7-2 run to eke out the two-point victory.
The teams were tied 12 different times, but BYU created separation late before Pepperdine’s run ended the set.
“I know teams come back, but you got to be confident, you got to be assertive, you got to be aggressive and just be able to put teams away,” Olmstead said of his team’s meltdown in the final stretch of the third set.
“They went on a run that ended up winning that set, so that one stings.”
Adding to the sting was senior outside hitter Trent Moser going out after the third set due to cramps.
“I thought he was doing a great job,” Olmstead said of Moser. “That’s one of the best matches that I’ve seen from him in the back row. … He really kind of led the guys and I thought that really was a changing point (when he went out).”
The Waves’ momentum carried into the final set as they earned a lopsided victory in a match that had been close up until that point.
Pepperdine tallied four service aces in the set and grew its lead as things wore on. The visitors had four different runs of three or more points, overwhelming the Cougars for the win.
“They saved all their aces for that set,” Olmstead said of the fourth set. “(Things) were starting to fall apart because they were serving so tough.”
Ultimately, the Waves’ strong effort and the Cougars’ inconsistent play cost BYU, as it failed to capitalize in critical moments of the match.
BYU will have 24 hours to make the necessary adjustments after a tough night, as it gets another crack at Pepperdine Saturday evening in the Smith Fieldhouse.
The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.