PROVO, Utah — The No. 8 Cougars defeated No. 7 Pepperdine 3-2 (25-21, 26-28, 25-17, 17-25, 15-12) in five sets at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday night in front of 3,530 fans.
"I told the guys before the match that we were going to need everybody," said BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. "That is the character of our team, and we showed that. Our pins were really strong tonight. Teilon was great, and made some key digs in that match. Luke Benson was on fire on the outside and looked really, really strong."
"We knew that Keoni has that spark, so that is the angle we were going for towards the end of the match," said Olmstead. "We just thought it would give us a different look, and down the stretch Keoni took some massive swings that we needed. Now we just need to regroup and fight again tomorrow night."
Following a tight second set, the Cougars (18-9, 6-5 MPSF) were dominant in set three, with a .625 hitting team clip.
Luke Benson was the match-leader in kills with 19, while tallying a .515 hitting percentage and two aces. Additionally, Miks Ramanis and Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga joined Benson with double-digit kills. The trio combined for 46 of BYU’s 62 kills.
Keoni Thiim entered the match in set four, and went on to hit six-for-10 and single-handedly earned BYU's last five points of the match to help the Cougars gain the set-five victory.
Libero Jackson Fife recorded a match-high 10 digs, with Tufuga adding six digs.
BYU finished with a .554 kill percentage to the Waves’ .496, BYU's second-highest clip of the year and highest in conference play. Tonight’s win secured the fifth-straight Cougar victory in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Set One
The Cougars opened the match with a 2-0 run, capitalizing on a Waves attack error and a kill by Ramanis. However, Pepperdine responded with a 3-0 run to take a 3-2 lead. The teams traded points until the Waves held an 11-10 advantage, before BYU surged ahead with a 4-0 run, capped by a kill from Benson, prompting a Pepperdine timeout.
Following the timeout, BYU extended the run to 7-0 to take a 16-11 lead. Pepperdine answered with a 3-1 run, but the Cougars maintained control and closed out the set on their first set point, 25-21.
The Cougars posted a .444 hitting percentage in the first set, while Pepperdine hit .250.
Set Two
The teams traded points until the score was tied at four, when BYU put together a 3-1 run, sparked by back-to-back points from Benson on a kill and an ace, to take a 7-5 lead.
Three consecutive BYU errors allowed Pepperdine to tie the score at nine. The Waves then took an 11-10 lead and followed with a 4-2 run, including two aces, to make it 15-12 heading into the media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, BYU went on a 4-1 run, taking advantage of two Pepperdine errors, a kill by Teon Taylor and an ace from Thiim to tie it at 16. The teams traded kills to 19, all before the Waves scored back-to-back points, prompting a BYU timeout.
BYU fought off four set points, but Pepperdine pulled out the second set 28-26.
Set Three
The third set opened with six consecutive combined kills, making it 3-3. The teams continued to trade points to equalize the score at 9-9 after Ramanis and Benson went on a kill streak.
Two Wave attack errors gave BYU the lead at 12-11, forcing a Pepperdine timeout. Coming out of the break, Niko Hales and an error helped the Cougars maintain their lead at 15-13.
BYU claimed seven-straight points, highlighted by kills from Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga and Teon Taylor, to take a 23-15 lead. The Cougars closed out the third set 25-17 on a Pepperdine error.
The Cougars posted a .625 team hitting percentage in the third set.
Set Four
With the score tied at 4, BYU gave up a 7-1 Pepperdine run that put the Waves ahead 11-5. Pepperdine followed with a 4-1 stretch to extend the lead to 15-7. The Cougars managed to trade points for a stretch but couldn’t close the gap.
BYU picked up three straight points late, but a 4-0 Pepperdine run sealed the fourth set, 25-17.
Set Five
BYU opened the final set with two straight points, both coming off Pepperdine errors. The teams traded points until the Waves evened the score at 7 on back-to-back kills. BYU responded with two points of its own, including a kill by Luke Benson.
Thiim sparked a 3-0 run with a kill and two blocks to give the Cougars a 13-10 lead. Pepperdine fended off two match points, but BYU closed out the set 15-12 to secure the win.
Up Next
The Cougars return to the Smith Fieldhouse for their final matchup of the regular season against Pepperdine tomorrow on Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT, with live coverage on BYUtv.
Immediately following the match, BYU will honor its seniors Luke Benson, Noa Haine, Miks Ramanis, Teon Taylor and Keoni Thiim in a senior-night ceremony.