No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball hung tough against No. 5 GCU in a five-set match in a BYU-friendly GCU Arena with a large amount of BYU fans in it Saturday evening, but the Lopes eventually came out on top 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 17-25, 15-17), needing extra points in the final game.

The Cougars (10-6) are now 2-4 in MPSF play after playing two top-five schools on the road.

The GCU Lopes (16-1) registered a season-high 12 aces while the Cougars put up five of their own. The two top-10 programs matched fairly evenly in hitting percentages as GCU finished with a .321 clip and BYU with a .299 clip. BYU was led by sophomore outside hitter Luke Benson who had a career-high performance, with 16 kills on a .244 clip.

The Cougars came out the gates by going on a 3-0 run. GCU tied it at 5-5, looking to go on a run of their own, but a service error gave BYU a 6-5 edge. A long rally followed, which ended in a point for BYU off a Julien kill.

BYU was holding a lead for the entirety of Set No. 5 until the Lopes took a late 11-10 advantage after a BYU attack error. BYU would have went up 14-13 and had a match point, but a GCU challenge reversed the call and put the Lopes up 14-13 instead. Moser came right back with a kill to even the score at 14-14, forcing extra points. GCU would eventually win 17-15 off a BYU receiving error.

The fifth set was tied six times, and both teams hit below a .200 clip.

Next week, the Cougars will return to Provo to host No. 13 Ohio State on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s match will begin at 7 p.m. MST in the Smith Fieldhouse, with live coverage on the BYUtv app.

Cougar baseball loses finale to Omaha

BYU baseball fell to Omaha, 16-4, in Game No. 3 of the weekend series with the Mavericks at Miller Park in Provo on Saturday.

The Cougars won the over series 2-1 and are now 4-7 on the year, as they head south to St. George to take on Utah Tech (3-6) in a midweek game scheduled for 6:05 p.m. MST on March 7 at Bruce Hurst Field

“We needed to play better in all phases of the game today,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “Give Omaha credit, they came ready to hit and we didn’t respond well. We walked to many guys and they took advantage of it.”

Omaha broke the game open in the seventh with six runs, building a 16-3 lead. The game end at the conclusion of the seventh inning with the final score 16-4, due to the 10-run rule and Saturday being a travel day for Omaha.

Mavericks starter Charlie Bell (1-1) got the win, while Cutter Clawson (1-1) took the loss for the Cougars.

Following the midweek game with Utah Tech next Tuesday, the Cougars head to Nebraska to take on Creighton in a three-game series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, March 9-11.

All four games will be broadcast live on the BYU Radio App and BYU Radio 107.9 FM in the northern Utah market. In addition, the game at Utah Tech will be broadcast on ESPN+

BYU softball rallies to beat Idaho State

Hailey Morrow drove in the winning run as BYU softball rallied to beat Idaho State, 4-3 in its final game of the Trailblazer Tournament at Karl Brooks Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars faced a 3-0 deficit through three innings, coming from behind to tie the game in the fifth and take the lead in the seventh.

BYU got two runs back in the top of the fourth inning, with Breezy Hayward being hit by a pitch and both Violet Zavodnik and Jaelynn Lambert reaching on back-to-back ISU errors.

Lexie Bennett, pinch running for Hayward, and Zavodnik were both able to score on Lambert’s play with the ball rolling all the way to the outfield fence, making it 3-2, Idaho State.

The Cougars tied things up in the top of the fifth, with Ailana Agbayani singling and Hailey Morrow drawing a walk. Mallory Barber then singled through the left side to score Agbayani and even the game at 3-3.

In the seventh inning, Maddie Bejarano drew a two-out walk, bringing up Morrow. The freshman catcher sent a 1-0 pitch ricocheting off the Bengal third baseman’s glove down the left field line, allowing Bejarano to slide in and score just under the tag at the plate to put BYU in front at 4-3, its first lead of the game.

The Cougars lead would hold up in the bottom of the seventh, with two Idaho State strikeouts and a groundout finishing off the 4-3 BYU win and 3-1 finish at the Trailblazer Tournament.

BYU will have an 11-day break before hosting in-state rival Utah in the home opener at Gail Miller Field on Wednesday, March 15.

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