No. 6 BYU men's volleyball bounces back with strong win over UC Merced

The No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball team swept UC Merced 3-0 Friday night in California, bouncing back after two losses to No. 3 Hawaii last weekend.

The Cougars dominated the Bobcats in their first conference match of the season. BYU has won 10 of the last 12 matches and moved to 14-4 this season and 1-0 in conference play.

Three Cougars racked up seven kills and eight total players with three kills or more.

Tennison Lighthall picked up a career-high of seven kills, with Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga and Connor Oldani also recording seven kills each. BYU ranks 11th in the nation in kills per set, averaging 12.51.

Tyler Herget led the Cougars with a season-high three aces. AJ Cottle led the defense with two blocks.

UC Merced gained an early lead in the first set, feeding off the energy of the home crowd in a packed arena. BYU gradually closed the gap and took its first two-point lead at 16-14.

The Cougars went on to win the first set 25-19 and did not trail again for the rest of the match.

The second and third sets were dominated by the Cougars, who won 25-12 and 25-13. BYU used 14 different players throughout the match.

BYU outhit UC Merced .463 to .102. The Cougars' average hitting percentage is .345, making them eighth in the nation.

Despite last week’s losses, BYU remained No. 6 in the AVCA national rankings. They have been ranked above No. 8 throughout the entire season.

BYU will remain in California to face Jessup on Saturday at 8 p.m. MST.