BYU Cougars volleyball sweeps Princeton Tigers

A sluggish start made it look like playing their third match in four days had caught up to the No. 8 BYU Cougars in their Monday night home match with the No. 14 Princeton Tigers at Smith Fieldhouse.

That all changed though, as the Cougars soon got in their groove and secured a 3-0 sweep of the Tigers.

BYU got the win by set scores of 25-23, 25-19, 25-21.

The contest marked the Cougars’ first home match in over two weeks, when they started the season with a pair of 3-0 wins over then-No. 11 Ball State.

Last Friday and Saturday, BYU earned two wins on the road at UC Santa Barbara before making the quick turnaround to play Princeton in Provo Monday.

Monday afternoon, the Cougars began their limited prep for the Tigers.

“We needed to put all our attention on Santa Barbara,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “We never discussed Princeton until 3 o’clock today, and normally we go every home game day, … three to four, and it’s all serve and pass.

“What we did today was just get the guys stretched out and had the starter guys passing, not even serving, and we only did it though half an hour and then … we went right up into the film room.”

Minimal and hurried preparation may have been the biggest contributing factor to BYU’s uneven beginning to the night.

“It’s not ideal,” Olmstead said of playing with limited preparation and rest. “It was just tough, but I think I got to give the guys more credit … they’re tougher.”

Princeton capitalized on its hosts early struggles, leading the way for most of the initial set, using five consecutive blocks to go up 13-8 midway through.

“We were … trying to get too far ahead of ourselves — horrible swings, low swings, not covering each other,” Olmstead said of the first set mishaps. “We weren’t supporting our teammates the way we need to.”

BYU fought back, getting a couple blocks of its own to cap off a 4-0 run that got it within a point of the Tigers. The Cougars ultimately took the lead late into the set, going ahead for good at 21-20, doing just enough to fend off Princeton and earn a two-point win.

Olmstead praised sophomore libero Jackson Fife for his passing off the bench, feeling that he was a huge reason for his team’s improved play.

“Jackson Fife was phenomenal,” the ninth-year head coach said. “He was a huge part (of our win).”

The next set went back and forth to begin, with the schools matching scores seven times through the first 14 points.

However, that’s when BYU started to pull away, slowly expanding its advantage. The Cougars scored three of the final four points, equaling their largest lead as the game ended and going ahead 2-0 heading into the break.

Once the Cougars figured things out, the Tigers were unable to keep up with them.

“We just started off a little slow,” sophomore setter Tyler Herget said. “We kind of just told each other we needed to get past this, and once we did, I felt they couldn’t…