The Cougars recorded 38 kills on 65 attacks on the night, holding the Golden Eagles’ to hit just .222 from the floor with 30 kills on 72 attacks. They also secured nine service aces to CUI’s six. BYU suffered just six attack errors while forcing CUI to commit 14.

“It was really nice to be back in the Smith Fieldhouse,” BYU head coach  Shawn Olmstead  said. “I am really proud of the guys. I feel like their response after a tough road trip was really good. It sets us up well for what we have circled on our calendars in a big match against Pepperdine.”

Connor Oldani led the team in kills, securing 10 while hitting .562 from the floor. The sophomore also grabbed four digs and recorded an ace. Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga had eight kills of his own, while  Trent Moser racked up seven. Senior Jackson Fife led the Cougars in digs with five, with Oldani following with four.

Of the 10 Cougars who saw playing time, seven recorded at least one service ace, with both Cole Hauser and Tyler Herget each getting two.

Nearly every Cougar with a kill hit over .500 from the floor with AJ Cottle and Trevor Herget each hitting .750 on six and three kills, respectively. Cottle and Moser both recorded two blocks to add to senior captain Tyler Herget dishing out 31 assists in Saturday night’s sweep.

The win marks Olmstead’s 204th win as BYU’s head coach. One more victory will tie him with his own coach from his collegiate playing days, Carl McGown, for the most wins as a head coach in Cougars’ men’s volleyball history.

BYU also swept Concordia on Friday (25-17, 25-14, 25-21), its first home match in nearly a month after six straight road matches.

The Cougars (17-6) host Pepperdine at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. MDT, with streaming available on B1G+.

Gymnastics takes third at Big 12 Championships

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — The BYU women’s gymnastics team earned a third-place finish at the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship presented by Allstate at the Maverik Center Saturday night with a score of 196.175.

The Utah Utes won their second-straight Big 12 Championship with a 197.675. Denver came in second with a 196.575, followed by BYU (196.175) and Arizona 194.725.

The Cougars’ Guard Young was named Big 12 Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the meet.

After struggling in the first two rotations, the Cougars turned a corner and finished strong on floor (49.475) and vault (49.025).

With a career-high 9.950 on floor, freshman Scarlett Sonnenberg tied for second amongst all four teams on floor. Deb Silva tied for third on vault with a 9.875 and Brynlee Andersen-Broekman tied for fourth on beam with a 9.900.

The Cougars now await placement for NCAA Regionals. The NCAA selection show is on Monday, Mar. 23 at 10 a.m. MT and will be streamed on ESPNU and ESPN+.

No. 20 West Virginia completes sweep in Big 12 baseball series

No. 20 West Virginia completes three-game sweep of BYU baseball

MORGANTOWN, W.V.  – No. 20 ranked West Virginia defeated BYU 11-1 Saturday day in the final game a three-game Big 12 baseball series at Kendrick Family Ballpark.

The Mountaineers won Game 1 (7-4) on Thursday and Game 2 (12-10) on Friday.

WVU (16-4) racked up 11 runs on nine hits in Game 3 while stranding 11. BYU (10-12) scored one run on five hits while leaving seven on base. Crew McChesney was 2 for 4 and hit his sixth home run of the season to account for the Cougars’ scoring.

Reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Maxx Yehl struck out 11 Cougars over 7.0 innings for the win. Meanwhile BYU sophomore  Ezra McNaughton, who is hitting .413 on the year with a .481 on base percentage, had his impressive 20-game hitting streak come to end.

BYU will return to Utah and face the Utes in a midweek non-conference game on March 24 at the recently completed America First Ballpark in Salt Lake City. The Cougars will then welcome Oklahoma State to Provo for a weekend series, March 26-28.

Softball salvages Game 3 in series with No. 23 Oklahoma State

STILLWATER, Okla. — BYU softball earned its first Big 12 win of the year, defeating No. 23/21 Oklahoma State in the series finale, 7-3 at Cowgirl Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars took a 2-0 lead on a  Lily Owens  home run in the opening inning and scored five runs between the third and fourth innings to pull away.

BYU outhit OSU 8-7 in the contest and kept nine Cowgirl runners on base. The win marked the Cougars’ first Top 25 win of the season, their opening victory in conference play and lefty starter  Jada Villegas’ first win of the year.

The Cougars (9-20 overall, 1-5 Big 12) will return to the state of Utah next week, beginning with a midweek contest at Utah Valley on Tuesday, Mar. 24 at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN+.