Senior Teilon-Jonathan Tafuga led the Cougars (7-2) with 14 kills and added two aces and a solo block. Senior Trent Moser contributed 13 kills (.391) along with one ace, three block assists and six digs. Sophomore Connor Oldani had nine kills and hit .319 with setter Tyler Herget logging 36 assists and a team-leading nine digs.

BYU held the Railsplitters to a hitting percentage of .077.

Lincoln Memorial pulled to within one, 21-20, in Set 1 but the Cougars finished strong. Ian Little came in with an ace and Oldani managed a pair of kills for a 24-20 lead. Moser’s tip found the floor for the set winner. Tafuga had six kills in the first set.

BYU led most of Set 2 but the Railsplitters pulled to within one at 19-18. The Cougars got a back row kill from Moser then a combo block from Herget and Gavin Chambers to regain momentum. A terrific set from Herget resulted in a Tafuga kill to get to set point and Ian Little served his second ace of the match for the 25-19 victory.

BYU led the whole way in Set 3, taking a 16-12 lead on block from freshman Max Phillipe. Tafuga won a joust and fired off a kill for a 23-18 advantage and a kill from Little pushed the Cougars to match point. Tafuga finished off the sweep with an ace for the 25-19 win.

BYU continues the Harvard Invitational on Saturday by playing the host team then faces Merrimack in North Andover on Monday.

No. 4 Tennessee blanks BYU softball in opener

CLEARWATER, Fla. — BYU softball dropped its season opener to No. 4 Tennessee, 10-0 on Thursday night in the first game of the NFCA Leadoff Classic at Eddie C. Moore Complex.

In the run-rule contest, the Cougars (0-1, 0-0 Big 12) accumulated just two base runners thanks to a pair of walks, resulting in a no-hitter for the Lady Vols.

After starting pitcher  Jada Villegas  struck out the leadoff Volunteer hitter, Tennessee got on the board before the Cougars got up to bat. The Lady Vols slapped an RBI-double down the left-field line and followed that up with a two-run homer to center to go up 3-0.

Lily Owens  began the second frame with a leadoff walk, but it was to no avail. Tennessee forced a 4-6-3 double play and a strikeout swinging to end the inning.

Neither team put up runs in the third, with Tennessee leaving two runners on and BYU going down in order.

With one out, the Lady Vols drew three consecutive walks in the fourth to load the bases. Tennessee plated four runs on a passed ball and a three-run homer over the left-center field wall to make the deficit 7-0 for BYU.

Tennessee extended its lead to 10 in the fifth. A leadoff walk, a double to left to score the runner from first, an RBI-single to right, and a bases-loaded walk contributed to Lady Vols’ three-run frame.

BYU struck out looking, grounded out, and fouled out to end the bottom of the fifth and give Tennessee the 10-0 win.

The Cougars continued the NFCA Leadoff Classic against Michigan State and Notre Dame in a doubleheader on Friday.

Tough night in Texas for UVU women’s basketball

ABILENE, Texas — Utah Valley University dropped a Thursday night contest to Abilene Christian University, 70-50, at Moody Coliseum. ACU (17-6, 8-2) had two players score more than 20 points, led by Payton Hull with 28, while Erin Woodson added 24. UVU (10-11, 3-7) was led by Kylee Mabry  and Saige Gibb, who scored nine points apiece, with Gracie Sorenson adding eight off the bench.

Utah Valley shot better than 50% in the first quarter, including an early 8-2 run over 1:53, to take its first lead after Kaylee Headrick  drained a 3-pointer and Gibb hit a driving floater to make it 5-4. The Wolverines regained the lead when Amanda Barcello found space in the corner after an inbound pass and buried a 3-pointer to put UVU ahead 8-6 with under six minutes left in the first quarter. After the teams traded baskets, Gibb banked in a 3-pointer to give UVU a 16-15 edge while adding a pair of blocks defensively in the opening stanza.

Barcello opened the second quarter with a driving pull-up off the glass before earning a trip to the free-throw line on the next possession to push the Wolverine lead to 19-17 with 8:31 left in the first half. Abilene Christian responded with an 11-0 run and closed the half with a 45-26 advantage, shooting 59% in the first half and 78.6% in the second quarter while outscoring UVU 28-10 in the period.

The Wolverines managed only six shot attempts in the third quarter, with Gibb knocking down a 3-pointer and Sorenson scoring four points in the paint over three minutes of action as ACU went on a 12-0 run to extend its lead.

Sorenson opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a hook shot from the middle of the key for her sixth point of the night. The UVU bench helped close the game on a 14-0 run that began with a pair of 3-pointers from Mabry before Sorenson tied a season high with eight points on a layup. Anna Shreeve scored a pair of contested layups late to tie her career high for points against a Division I opponent.

Utah Valley will wrap up the road trip at UT Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 7, with a noon MT tip from College Park Center. UVU will renew the Old Hammer Rivalry next week when it hosts Utah Tech on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. MT inside Lockhart Arena.

BYU men’s tennis stays unbeaten

PROVO, Utah — The BYU men’s tennis team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 4-3 win over the Montana State Bobcats on Thursday night at the BYU Indoor Courts.

The Cougars rebounded after back-to-back doubles losses in Hawaii by securing the opening point with wins from the new pairing of  TJ Wells and Tygen Goldammer, who earned a 6-2 victory, along with  Adam Chodur and Otto Schreiner  who took control on court No. 1 with a decisive 6-1 win to clinch the doubles point for BYU after the Cougars dropped court No. 2.

Singles play featured close matchups across the board, with five of the six matches requiring a third set. Chodur put BYU back in front with a straight-sets win on court No. 1, taking a 7-6 (7-4) tiebreaker before closing out the match 7-5 after Wells fell on court No. 4.

Leading 2-1, freshman  Yubel Ubri  delivered a comeback performance on court No. 2. After dropping the opening set 6-3, Ubri responded by winning the next two sets 6-3, 6-2 to earn BYU’s third point of the night. It marked the first time in his collegiate career that Ubri lost an opening set, as he improved to 4-0 in singles play this season.

Now 3-1, Goldammer had the opportunity on court No. 3 to clinch the match for BYU. After winning the first set convincingly 6-1, Montana State’s Diallo fought back to take the second set 6-4. Despite suffering his first lost set of the 2026 season, Goldammer closed out the match with a 6-3 third set to secure the fourth point and the win for the Cougars.

With the match already decided, courts No. 5 and No. 6 featured Schreiner and  Redd Owen, both competing in singles play for the first time this season. Schreiner’s appearance marked his first singles match since his freshman year in 2022.

Both matches were tightly contested, with Schreider winning the opening set while Owen rallied to force a third set. Montana State ultimately edged out BYU in both matches via tiebreakers, narrowing the final score to 4-3.

BYU returns to the road this weekend with a four-match swing in Boston, beginning with a matchup against Stonehill College on Tuesday, Feb. 10.