BYU’s season likely ends in MPSF semifinal loss to No. 1 UCLA

BYU came out swinging but ultimately whiffed in Thursday night’s MPSF tournament semifinal against No. 1 ranked UCLA, as the Bruins settled in to take the match three sets to one.

The MPSF’s regular season champion showed few weaknesses, winning three straight sets and likely ending the fifth-seeded Cougars’ season in the Smith Fieldhouse.

UCLA topped BYU on set scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-17 and 25-18.

“We (started) right where we needed to be,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Our guys executed, came out the right way, rebounded after every point scored that they made.”

BYU took the first set, tying its largest lead by its end. UCLA’s struggles from the service line proved a big difference in the set, giving the Cougars seven points on errors.

BYU kept an advantage the entire way, though the Bruins cut the host team’s lead to two before the Cougars finished strong, scoring the final three points.

“I told the guys, ‘Hey, they’re not going to miss as many services as they did in the first set,’” Olmstead said. “They bailed us out a lot. … The majority of their missed serves came in that first set.”

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UCLA cleaned things up in the second, leading from start to finish and picking up four of its eight service aces on the night. The Bruins’ first 12 points came on four 3-0 runs, as the top team in the nation jumped out early on the Cougars, flexing its muscles in a set that never was really in doubt.

“We started off hot, and they kind of came in that second set and they put a lot of service pressure on us,” BYU senior setter Tyler Herget said.

“There’s a reason they’re the number one team in the country, and it’s because they serve really tough and they pass really (well), and so I think that trying to mess with them in that way is what we wanted to do, and it just didn’t go our way.”

The only tie of the match came in the third set at 1-1, but the night continued to go UCLA’s way from there as the Bruins exerted their will over BYU.

The road team inched its way to a bigger and bigger lead, ultimately hitting .556 in the set and putting the Cougars on the brink.

The fourth set turned into a repeat of the prior two, with UCLA taking control early and never letting up. The set was all but over midway through, as the Bruins held a 15-7 advantage before putting things in cruise control to pick up their 28th win of the year.

“We didn’t have answers,” Olmstead said. “That’s what a great team does. … It just kind of became too much.”

Olmstead emphasized the impact serving played in the match after UCLA overcame its rocky start in that department.

“They went and served (eight) aces to our none,” he said. “We couldn’t get our serve going, and you can’t (let) a team like that … be in system and get too many good, good touches.”

The win marked the Bruins’ third victory over the Cougars since last Thursday, the Los Angeles school beating BYU twice to end the regular season as well.

UCLA advances to the MPSF tournament final, where it will face No. 3 seed USC, which took down No. 2 seed Pepperdine in five sets prior to the Bruins and Cougars’ match Thursday.

The championship contest will be played Saturday at 7 p.m. MT.