For the second season in a row, BYU men’s volleyball was eliminated in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament by its host, this time in five sets against No. 6 seed USC on Thursday night.
The Trojans topped the Cougars by set scores of 30-32, 29-27, 25-23, 18-25 and 15-12.
After going to five sets in a loss to USC less than two weeks ago, the third-seeded Cougars went the distance again with the Trojans but still reached the same result.
BYU closes its season with a second consecutive defeat at the hands of USC despite beating the Los Angeles school in four sets on April 5.
Ultimately, the disappointing feeling is all too familiar for the Cougars. A year ago, BYU fell to Stanford in the MPSF tournament in five sets at Maples Pavilion, despite ending the regular season on a high of two victories over the Cardinal.
The defeat marked the Cougars fifth five-set loss of the season.
Still, BYU began the evening on a high note defeating all odds to come back and win the initial set. USC reached set point with the Cougars still at 18 but was unable to finish the job as BYU rattled off the next seven points to go ahead 25-24.
The two schools took turns in the driver’s seat from there before the Cougars finally triumphed, using a 4-1 run to close things out.
The Trojans returned the favor in the next set, overcoming a pair of BYU set point opportunities and scoring three consecutive points to take Game 2.
USC never trailed in the third set, which was again decided by just two points. A late run by the Cougars knotted the score at 21 but it wasn’t quite enough as BYU was unable to surge ahead of the Trojans.
The fourth set was controlled by the Cougars, with three of the school’s six service aces on the night coming in the set.
For the first time all evening one of the teams won a set comfortably, BYU earning a seven-point victory and sending the contest into a decisive fifth game.
USC’s three-point win in the fifth set equaled its largest margin of victory over BYU in a set this season. A 3-0 Trojan run midway through the final game made all the difference, giving USC an 11-8 lead that it never relinquished.
The Cougars were led by junior outside hitter Luke Benson, who finished the evening with two blocks, a service ace and 27 kills while hitting .465 percent.
With the loss, BYU moved to 1-3 in its last four MPSF tournament matches, a far cry from the 5-1 record it boasted in its six prior postseason conference contests leading up to that.
With the odds of the Cougars getting an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament very small, they will likely finish the season with a 16-9 overall record.