BYU middles Max Philippe and Gavin Chambers had six blocks each, leading the Cougars. Trent Moser, Connor Oldani and Tyler Herget each had four blocks. Trevor Herget added two and Teilon-Jonathan Tafuga had one.

“It was a great first road trip for the team,” said Shawn Olmstead, BYU head coach. “Very, very proud of their toughness and consistency over the course of two matches. Trent Moser, Jackson Fife and Tyler Herget showed great leadership this weekend. Max Philippe did great filling a role as we navigate a couple injuries.”

Moser was the only player in the match to record double-digit kills, finishing with 13. Oldani added seven and Philippe four.

Philippe, a freshman making his third career start, set a new career high in kills for the third straight match. His six blocks are also a career high.

The teams started out the match by alternating the first 13 points scored, eventually leading to a 7-6 BYU advantage. The Cougars then won seven of the next eight points, featuring Moser who led the team with four kills and two blocks in the set. It looked like the Cougars would be in control for the remainder of the set, eventually building to a 24-19 lead. The Gauchos, however, would grind out five straight points to force deuce points. After fighting off six set points, UCSB would eventually lose the set 29-27 on an attack error.

The first part of the second set remained tight. BYU was up 3-1, then UCSB took a lead eventually at 9-6. A Trevor Herget kill tied it back up at 13-13, and BYU wouldn’t trail again for the remainder of the set. Seven straight points from BYU, punctuated by a Tafuga ace that forced a UCSB timeout, got the Cougars out to a 22-17 lead. The Cougars again got to a 24-19 set point, but this time UCSB fought back with just one more point before another kill from Moser ended the set 25-20.

The Cougars jumped out to a 4-1 lead to start the third set and never looked back. BYU had three aces in the set, two from Moser and one from Chambers. For the third straight set, BYU was up 24-19, and again UCSB picked up a point before BYU ended the match on a back-row kill from Moser, for a 25-20 final.

The Cougars remain on the road but will head to the opposite coast, playing three matches next weekend in Boston against Lincoln Memorial, Harvard and Merrimack.