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BYU's Anthony Cherfan (13) and Trent Moser (9) lead the team in celebrating a point during a men's college volleyball match against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, January 21, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Jon Stanley serves against Fairleigh Dickinson during a men's college volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, January 21, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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PROVO, Utah – No. 13 BYU men’s volleyball swept Fairleigh Dickinson 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-15) Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse for the Cougars’ second-straight win over the Knights. The win improved BYU to 4-0 on the season.

BYU was led by freshman Trent Moser, who had 11 kills on .579 hitting. Nine different Cougars registered kills, with sophomores Teon Taylor and Luke Benson adding 6 and 5 respectively. Kills from freshmen Bernardo Adam, Jared Brady and Ethan Gant were all the first of their careers. As a team BYU hit .394, with FDU only converting at a rate of .012. The visiting Knights also had 39 errors on the evening.

“We have the capability to take on anybody in the country,” said Taylor. “I love all the guys on our team and they work so hard at practice, so it was fun seeing new faces on the court tonight. Next week at UC Irvine, we are going to focus on staying locked in during every single play.”

The Cougars started off with an early 3-0 lead in the first set, with Taylor registering two kills. Moser then added two kills of his own before a pair of hitting errors from FDU saw BYU’s lead grow to 8-2.

A timeout helped the Knights cut the Cougar lead to two, but BYU responded with an 8-1 run. FDU committed five errors during the stretch, which also included an ace from Moser. The Cougars led 20-11 at the end of the run, their largest gap of the set to that point.

A solo block from senior Heath Hughes gave the Cougars their third-straight point to end the set, securing a 25-15 win. BYU had 12 kills in the first on .385 hitting, including four on a .600 clip from Taylor. The home side also held the Knights to -0.033 hitting and 13 errors in the frame.

The second set started out much closer, with the two teams trading points to a 6-6 tie. The Cougars finally got some separation when three consecutive Moser kills gave them a 9-6 lead. The lead would remain at three for most of the set before a 6-2 run saw the BYU lead grow to five, 20-15.

The mistake-filled set saw the two teams combine for 20 errors, including 13 from the service line. The Cougars ended the second set with three-straight points, two of which came from FDU errors. The 25-19 set saw six kills from Moser on .750 hitting. As a team, BYU hit .429 with FDU converting at a .172 rate.

Moser added another kill to open Set 3, with BYU starting off with an 8-4 lead after seven more errors from FDU. The lead grew further to 15-7 after Adam, Moser and Taylor added kills for the Cougars.

The Cougars continued to hit well as the set wore on, with Gant registering a kill to go along with one more from both Adam and Taylor during a stretch that ended with a 20-10 BYU lead. Jared Brady then entered the match for his first time as a Cougar and hit home three of BYU’s final four points, including the match point for a 25-15 set three final score. The final set was also BYU’s best defensively, forcing a -0.136 hitting clip from the Knights.

Next week, the Cougars head to California for a two-game series with UC Irvine on Wednesday and Friday. Both matches start at 7:00 p.m. PST on ESPN+.

Cougar athletes Tabugbo, Oblad register track wins on final day at Air Force

BYU men’s and women’s track and field swept the relay races and recorded six individual event wins as the Ralph Lindeman Invitational came to a close at the Air Force Academy on Saturday.

“It’s always fun to sweep the 4x400m,” said BYU sprints coach Kyle Grossarth. “Those were really good opening races for both squads and I know there will be more to come.”

Adaobi Tabugbo clocked a personal-best 8.30 to win the women’s 60m hurdles over runner-up Avery McMullen (8.39) of Colorado. McMullen entered the weekend ranked No. 24 nationally. Tabugbo is now three hundredths of a second off a top-25 spot.

“Adaobi ran really well today,” Grossarth said. “I’m really excited about her trajectory.”

With her performance on Saturday, the junior from Laurel, Maryland reached her latest rung on her ascent up the program’s 60m hurdles top-10 board. At 8.30, Tabugbo surpassed Miriam Fisher (2004) for No. 5 all-time at BYU. Amy Menlove Otis ranks ahead of Tabugbo at No. 4 with an 8.24 finish in 2009.

BYU’s sprints success continued as Sami Oblad registered a personal-best and a win in the women’s 400m final. Oblad clocked in at 55.78, improving from 56.16 on Friday. The junior from Stansbury Park, Utah defeated second-place finisher Taylor Rioux of Air Force by 1.37 seconds.

“That was a breakthrough for Sami in the 400,” Grossarth said. “All of her hard work is paying off.”

Oblad appeared again in the women’s 4x400m relay, anchoring the squad of Brilee Pontius, Annalise Hart and Marianne Barber to a victory at 3:47.51. The Cougars came in over eight seconds ahead of runner-up Sacramento State, and this in just their first relay race of the season.

Though just a freshman, Barber not only starred in the penultimate relay lap, but finished third in the women’s 200m final with a personal-best 24.60. Hart and Pontius recorded personal-bests as well at 24.61 and 24.72, respectively.

The Cougars’ lone field event of the day came in high jump. There, Cierra Tidwell Allphin took third with a 1.73m/5-8 clearance. Tidwell Allphin’s season-best 1.84m/6-0.5 has her tied for No. 6 nationally with Alex Porpaczy of Arizona.

The men tallied event wins either by individuals or squads in five of the day’s six competitions.

Easton Bianchi took first in the 60m after clocking a 6.73 time to finish ahead of runner-up Javin Bostic of Air Force (6.77). This brought the senior just .05 seconds away from matching his personal best.

“Easton came back today, cleaned up some mistakes from yesterday and came home with a solid time and win,” said Grossarth.

Eli Hazlett claimed first overall in the 400m (48.28) among a field of seven, nearly a second ahead of runner-up JD Prinslood of Wichita State. The sophomore from Moab, Utah set a new personal record in yesterday’s preliminary 400m event at 48.17.

“I was happy to see Eli get the win,” said Grossarth. “He has been training really well during the fall and is ready for some big things.”

The Cougars placed their three pole vaulters in the top four as Caleb Witsken continued his dominance in the event. The two-time indoor All-American – currently at second nationally in the event – had a solid performance Saturday with a clearance of 5.60m/18-4.50. The mark put the senior more than a foot ahead of runner-up Connor McLean. Nathan Burnett and Dallin Thornton finished third and fourth, respectively.

After finishing first overall in the 200m among a sizeable preliminary field of 34 athletes yesterday, Josh Taylor emerged on top once again with a 21.48 time. The finish netted him another personal best, an additional 0.08 seconds ahead of yesterday’s personal record.

“That time is a good reflection of the work [Josh] has been putting in,” said Grossarth.

Jared Davis (21.71) and Trey Jackson (21.75) rounded out the top three in the 200m as Jackson’s third-place finish became another personal best.

In the men’s 4x400m relay, Jackson anchored a squad that included Landon Maxfield, Josh Taylor and Dallin Draper to finish first overall at 3:13.13. The race was the first relay event of the season for the Cougars and puts the group just a second outside of the top-25 nationally-ranked squads.

To round out Saturday’s events, Treyton Anderson took eighth overall in the 60m hurdle finals (8.47).