No. 7 BYU ends road trip with 3-set win over Merrimack

No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball picked up its fifth consecutive road sweep in a dominant 3-0 win over the Merrimack Warriors Monday night in North Andover, Massachusetts.

The Cougars controlled the match Monday, maintaining a steady lead to sweep the Warriors in three straight sets (25-11, 25-17, 25-17). BYU improved to 9-2 on the season, with its only losses coming against No. 5 UC Irvine.

After facing three matches in four days, BYU used Monday’s comfortable lead to rotate players throughout the lineup.

Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga led the Cougars on the offense with eight kills and three aces. Tufuga has put up 20 kills on 26 attempts with no errors in his past two matches.

Several other Cougars made key offensive contributions, with Trevor Herget recording six kills, Trent Moser adding five, and Max Philippe finishing with four.

The Cougars opened the match strong, jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the first set. The Warriors trimmed the deficit to 6-3, but BYU maintained its momentum to take the set 25-11. The Cougars hit .407 in the set while holding the Warriors to -.034.

The second set remained tight early, as BYU maintained a two-point edge before pulling ahead with a 20-11 lead. After trading a few points with the Warriors, the Cougars closed out the set 25-17.

Merrimack opened the third set with a 2-0 lead, its first of the match, before BYU responded to tie it at 5-5 and regain control. After some back-and-forth play, kills by Philippe, Cole Hauser and Ian Little helped the Cougars close out the match with a 25-17 win in the third set.

BYU finished with a .388 hitting percentage, holding Merrimack to .133.

BYU returns home this weekend to open MPSF conference play against Menlo College, with matches set for Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.