BYU men’s volleyball lost to Pepperdine in four sets on March 28 at Smith Fieldhouse, with set scores of 25-20, 23-25, 19-25, and 22-25.
The match was significant for both teams’ conference standings. With this win, Pepperdine remains undefeated in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play at 8-0 and keeps its position at the top of the conference. BYU’s record moves to an even split at 4-4.
Trent Moser led BYU with ten kills during the match. Connor Oldani contributed nine kills while AJ Cottle added eight. Five Cougars—Gavin Chambers, Tyler Herget, Ian Little, Cole Hauser, and Oldani—each recorded a service ace for BYU.
Pepperdine outperformed BYU offensively with a hitting percentage of .412 compared to BYU’s .268. The Waves became only the second team this season to hit above .400 against the Cougars; Hawai’i previously accomplished this feat twice in earlier matches against BYU.
The match opened with a competitive first set that saw several lead changes before Cottle secured the set for BYU with a kill at 25-20. However, Pepperdine responded by taking control in subsequent sets through strong runs and consistent attacking play—including hitting .650 in the third set—and ultimately won three straight sets to close out the match.
Looking ahead, BYU will travel to Costa Mesa, California for two matches against Vanguard on April 2 and April 3 at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
