1 / 2

The BYU's men's volleyball team celebrates a five-set upset of No. 4 UCLA at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

2 / 2

BYU's Miks Ramanis serves the ball during an MPSF men's volleyball match against UCLA in the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

❮ ❯

No. 8 BYU secured a five-set upset (31-29, 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-12) over defending national champions and No. 4 UCLA on Friday night in front of a season-high 4,514 fans in the Smith Fieldhouse.

With the win, BYU snapped a five-match losing streak to the Bruins stretching back to 2021 and handed UCLA its first regular season conference loss in 22 matches. The Cougars improved to 10-5 (1-2 MPSF) in match one of two for hosting the Bruins this weekend. Despite trailing 2-1 in the set tally, BYU bounced back to claim the final two frames while even trailing by at least four points in both.

The Bruins jumped out to a 4-1 lead in Set 5 and took an 8-4 advantage before the Cougars fought back with Little at the service line. BYU gained momentum, cutting the UCLA lead to 8-6 after a wild point saw the Cougars rebound quickly off blocks to gain the upper hand with a putaway from Teon Taylor. Little then rattled off another ace before Tyler Herget assisted Miks Ramanis on a weak side kill to even the score at eight.

With the score at 11-11, the Cougars scooped to save a powerful spike and set up a kill from Luke Benson. Tied at 12-12, Bruin Merrick McHenry had a service error. Benson then nailed a putaway to set up match point at 14-12. Off a strong serve by Kupono Browne, the Bruins hoisted the ball up and it was immediately met with an overpass slam by Moser to secure the upset.

The Cougars earned a team season-high of 11 aces, holding UCLA to just three. BYU also totaled 61 kills, 56 assists and 26 digs. Herget tallied a career-high 52 assists while Little notched three aces for a career-high performance.

The victory came despite UCLA leading in hitting percentage at .491 to BYU’s .390.

Benson led the team in kills with 16 on a .367 hitting percentage. Ramanis had 14 kills on a .522 clip and Browne added 12 kills while tying his season-high of four aces.

With UCLA up 16-14 in Set 1, Browne soared high for a slam that bounced around a couple of Bruins before flying into the crowd. At 17-17, Bernardo Adam and Browne carded kills before UCLA would then score two straight to make it 19-19.

Later, with the Bruins holding a 24-23 set point advantage, Ramanis climbed high for a crucial putaway to keep the Cougars alive. The junior then got another kill on the left side down the line. Five more set points kept the suspense rolling before BYU pulled away with the score at 29-29. Benson’s cross-court kill set up the set-sealing ace by Browne.

At 12-10 for the Bruins in Set 2, UCLA gave up three service errors over the next five plays as BYU narrowed the gap to 14-13. A 3-0 UCLA run was curbed with a service error as BYU then narrowed the gap to a one-point deficit again at 18-17. The Bruins responded with a weak side kill across the court. At 19-17, a Benson putaway and Browne ace knotted the score again at 19-19.

Benson hit another cross-court kill aimed right to make it 20-20 before a service error made it 21-20 for UCLA. Ramanis then carded a termination over two defenders and the Bruins countered again to go up 22-21. In an unusual set ending, the teams traded several service errors in a sequence of four straight points to extend the score to a 24-23 set point for UCLA. Unlike the opening frame, the set was quickly decided in UCLA’s favor at 25-23 off a BYU attack error.

With the score at 10-10 in Set 3, the Bruins began a 5-0 run in what would be the largest scoring run of the night for either team. The Cougars almost curbed the run at 13-10 when Browne extended for a wild pancake save. Despite two Bruins bumping into each other and falling to the ground, they were able to rebound and break a wall of three Cougar blockers.

The Bruins maintained their lead. Up 22-17, Julien won a spar at the net to set up a Moser slam that cut the deficit to 22-18, but BYU wouldn’t score again and fell 25-18.

Two Bruin errors made it 13-11 in Set 4 before Taylor carded his first ace and Cougars’ sixth of the night. A couple more UCLA errors equaled the score at 14-14. Jon Stanley then notched another Cougar ace to make it 16-15 for BYU’s first lead of the set. Just three points later, Little carded an ace to go up 18-16.

UCLA narrowed the gap to make it 20-20. Taylor then smacked the ball into a blocker as it flew off the defender’s fingertips and into the crowd. A pancake save by the Cougars led to an immediate kill from Benson. Browne then carded two straight aces to bring the roaring crowd to its feet and force a fifth set.

BYU will host the Bruins again tomorrow on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. MST in the Smith Fieldhouse. The match will be televised on BYUtv and byutv.org.