No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball achieved a straight-set victory over Fort Valley State on Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah, with scores of 25-18, 25-16, and 25-14.
BYU outperformed Fort Valley State in several statistical categories, including hitting percentage (.468 to .197), kills (46 to 23), service aces (7 to 0), digs (22 to 17), and set assists (40 to 21). The Cougars’ .468 hitting percentage marked their second-highest in a match this season.
“They took care of business,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said about his team. “I didn’t think we let down at all… I feel like we’ve been able to do some roster management, in a way. I’ve been really, really proud of what the guys that have come in have done.”
Trent Moser and Connor Oldani led BYU with 12 kills each. Moser contributed two blocks and had a .600 hitting percentage. Oldani recorded four digs, two blocks, and a service ace. Max Philippe added three blocks for the Cougars.
Setter Tyler Herget provided 35 assists during the match, averaging 11.67 per set and improving on his season average of 10.28 assists per set. That mark ranked ninth nationally coming into the weekend.
Tennison Lighthall came off the bench in the third set to add five kills on six attempts along with a block and a dig. Cottle also entered during the third set and contributed three kills.
With this win, Olmstead reached his 199th career victory as BYU men’s volleyball head coach. He is now one win away from becoming only the second coach in program history to reach the 200-win milestone; Carl McGown holds the record with 205 wins.
The Cougars extended their winning streak to eight matches and have now won 24 consecutive sets—their longest such streak since winning 35 straight sets in 2016.
BYU will play Fort Valley State again Saturday night at Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. MST.
