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The BYU men's volleyball team huddles in a match at UC Irvine on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU's Trent Moser (9) takes a swing over a triple block from Long Island during a men's college volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Junior setter Tyler Herget (3) came off the bench to lead No. 5 BYU to a 3-2 victory at No. 6 Ball State on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU men's volleyball coach Shawn Olmstead (left) reacts to a play on the court during an MPSF match against Stanford at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga attacks the ball against the Harvard block in a men's college volleyball match at the Smith Fieldhouse on Monday, March 17, 2025.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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At the conclusion of the 2025 season, BYU men’s volleyball head coach Shawn Olmstead held a final team meeting.

It was a chance for Olmstead to say good-bye to his seniors.

“We gave them huge hugs, told them thanks for everything, asked them to be our biggest fans and to continue to support us, then we dismissed them,” Olmstead said.

After the seniors left, Olmstead turned and looked at the eight remaining players: Two liberos, one setter, two middles, no right side and three outsides, two of which he was going to have to let go due to roster limits.

“It was the scariest sight I’ve ever had in my college coaching career,” Olmstead admitted.

Olmstead was excited about his incoming freshman class but concerned about going into the offseason without the experience of seniors Luke Benson, Miks Ramanis, Teon Taylor, Noa Haine and Keoni Thiim in the gym.

In April, Grand Canyon decided to cut its very successful men’s volleyball program and four talented Antelopes came on board, including former Cougar Trent Moser.

It’s no wonder Olmstead is optimistic for 2026.

“We got the GCU boys and that immediately changed everything,” Olmstead said. ” They brought experience and a breath of fresh air. We don’t need to entirely rely on these freshmen, so that was really big time. The former GCU coach (Jon Girten) was just texting me today saying he can’t wait to watch us play and he was rooting for us.”

The Cougars were picked to finish fifth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and eighth in the AVCA preseason Top 25 poll.

Where were we?

BYU was 7-5 in MPSF play in 2025 and earned the No. 3 seed in the league tournament. The Cougars battled No. 6 Stanford but lost in five sets to end up 19-10 overall and No. 8 in the final AVCA poll.

BYU was second in the country in home attendance (3,994) and memorably sold out the Smith Fieldhouse on back-to-back nights against Hawaii.

Benson was first team All-MPSF and earned honorable mention AVCA All-American honors. Ramanis fought injury issues all season but was named second team All-MPSF.

New faces

Counting Moser, there are 11 newcomers on the BYU roster in 2026.

Moser, a 6-foot-7 senior pin hitter, posted 305 kills for the Cougars in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to Grand Canyon, where last season he totaled 274 kills (2.88 per set) and hit .318 for the Antelopes.

“The biggest thing for Trent is that he’s made a lot of personal growth,” Olmstead said. “He’ll tell you that. He got married, he got a lot stronger mentally and has the right priorities, what to focus on. Trent brings size, physicality and leadership. I’ve put it on him to help the young kids because he’s had unbelievable experience, and that’s brought great team culture.”

Moser is joined by three other GCU refugees in Kyle Zediker (6-5 So. S), Connor Oldani (6-5 So. RS) and Max Phillipe (6-6 Fr. MB). Olmstead said his three starting pin hitters will be Moser, 6-5 junior Teilon-Jonathan Tafuga (1.88 kills per set, .268 in 2025) and Oldani, who has moved to the right side.

“Connor is a team player with a great attitude,” Olmstead said. “We came back from Christmas and felt like we needed to get him reps on the right side. We went to him last week and said, ‘Connor, you’re one of our three best pin hitters and we want to get all three of them on the floor.’

“There was no pause in his response. He just said, ‘I’ll do whatever you want.'”

Oldani was a second team AVCA All-American at Brophy High School in Arizona before starting his college career at GCU.

The future

The freshman class includes two-time Utah 5A state MVP Trey Thornton (6-6 OH), legacy outside hitter Corbin Batista (son of former Cougar standout Victor Batista), Trevor Herget (6-3 OH), AJ Cottle (6-8 MB), returned missionary Tennison Lighthall (6-6 OH/OPP), Tyler James Johnson (6-0 S) and Phillipe.

“Our freshmen are good but they are still navigating things,” Olmstead said. “We need to get a pulse on that but what you’re going to see across the board is a volleyball level and a physicality we’ve never had with that many kids together in a freshman class. I can tell you that Trevor Herget just flies out of the gym and Tennison came back from his mission a man among boys.”

Running it back

The Cougars are solid at setter with 6-2 senior Tyler Herget (9.59 assists, 1.62 digs per set) returning for his third season as the starter.

“Tyler is just our ‘Steady Eddie,'” Olmstead said. “I’m not the kind of coach that’s looking to recruit for flashy and Tyler has exactly what we’re looking for in a setter. He’s coachable and looks at the game like I do. It’s his last year, his last hurrah and we’re excited for him.”

The libero spot will be held down by 6-0 senior Jackson Fife (294 career digs), another two-year starter. Versatile Bernardo Adam (6-3 Sr. libero) has great energy and serving specialist Ian Little (6-5 Jr. OH) is a lefty who can contribute.

In the middle, the competition has been strong between Cottle, returner Gavin Chambers (6-9 So.) and Phillipe to replace Taylor and Niko Hales, who started as a freshman and is serving a church mission in Barcelona, Spain.

The schedule

Olmstead has never shied away from playing big matches, but the expansion of the men’s college game has created a different kind of schedule for the Cougars in 2026. Some of it is built in: Concordia, Menlo College and Vanguard have joined the MPSF in the past few seasons and this year the addition of UC Merced and Jessup makes it a 10-team league.

In an effort to help grow the men’s game, BYU opens with a pair of matches against St. Francis and also plays Lincoln Memorial, Merrimack and Fort Valley.

There are still those big matches as well, with the Cougars facing No. 6 UC Irvine and No. 17 UCSB in the non-conference and No. 9 Stanford, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 5 USC and top-ranked UCLA in MPSF play.

Outlook

The NCAA had expanded the post-season tournament to 12 teams, which is a big deal for a BYU program that has been just short of qualification throughout the past dozen years. Tough facts: The Cougars have ended their season with a five-set loss ten times since 2004. More recently, BYU’s past four losses in the MPSF Tournament have all be in five sets.

“Right now I can tell you the kind of team were are,” Olmstead said. “We’ve been very consistent. We’re a pretty physical group and can still get a little more fine tuned. There is unbelievable effort on every play, which we need. I think we’ll have better floor defense than what we’ve had in the past. We’ve been a dominant blocking program but I felt like we were not giving ourselves enough chances with our defense. We’ve talked a lot about that, about putting our guys in situations where they need to find a way to win, to be assertive and smart. I think we’ve got some guys like that this year who aren’t afraid to put the team on their shoulders.”

BYU Men’s Volleyball

Five Things to Watch in 2026

1. Introduction are in order

BYU fans will need to consult the game program to get it all straight with 11 players who weren’t on last year’s roster.

2. Welcome home

Trent Moser, who played for the Cougars in 2023 and 2024, transferred to Grand Canyon and had a terrific year in 2025. He’s back — bringing three other GCU players with him — and will make a huge difference as one of BYU’s top pin hitter.

3. Gaining momentum

There are some huge MPSF matches at the end of the regular season schedule, so it will be important for the Cougars to pick up good wins and confidence in the non-conference.

4. Home sweet home

The Smith Fieldhouse continues to be the hottest ticket on campus and one of the best places in the country to watch a college volleyball match. Last year, BYU was second in the country in average home attendance (3,994).

5. Big finish

BYU’s last four losses in the MPSF Tournament have all been in five sets. Somehow, the Cougars need to find a way to come out on top in close matches to get to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.