LOS ANGELES — BYU’s record-setting 12 aces were not enough in five-set battle against conference opponent No. 13 USC as the Cougars fell 3-2 (25-20, 25-27, 28-26, 27-29, 16-18) on Saturday evening at the Galen Center in their final match of the regular season.
Sophomore middle blocker Ethan Gant led the BYU defense with a career-high and match-high nine blocks. He also added a career-high seven kills on a .400 hitting percentage. BYU’s pin hitters Kupono Browne, Miks Ramanis and Luke Benson all registered double-digit kills, for the second night in a row, totaling 51 of BYU’s 70 kills. Browne led all players with 20, while Ramanis finished with 16 and Benson totaled 15 kills. Middle blocker Gavin Julien also recorded double-digit kills, finishing with 11 kills on 15 swings. Setter Tyler Herget also reached a new career-high of 59 assists.
The Cougars (16-8, 7-5 MPSF) fought by putting up a season-high of 12 aces, with five from Ramanis and five from Browne. Twelve aces tonight is the most recorded by BYU in a single match since Jan. 7, 2017, tied for the fifth-most in BYU’s rally scoring era. The last, and only other, instance two players have recorded five aces in the same match in BYU history occurred on Mar. 25, 2022 when Browne and All-American Davide Gardini both recorded five aces on the road against Pepperdine.
USC (12-12, 3-7 MPSF) outhit the Cougars with a .321 team hitting percentage compared to BYU’s .281 team clip. The Trojans also led in digs with a season-high of 50, with BYU recording 42 digs in the match. Freshman outside hitter Noah Roberts led the Trojans with 19 kills on a .593 clip, including nine digs and four blocks.
The match lasted three hours and two minutes, BYU’s longest match in 2024.
Set One
BYU gained a quick 7-3 lead, forcing USC’s first timeout of the night. Ramanis would serve his second ace of the night to gain a 15-9 advantage, immediately leading into a BYU block, causing USC to burn its final timeout of the set, trailing by seven.
A block and kill by Gant gave BYU the 22-16 edge, but USC would fight to win the next three of four points. A kill by Browne gave BYU the set point at 24-19, and USC stayed alive through one more point until Benson knocked it down to secure the 25-20 victory.
Benson led the Cougars with five kills in the first frame, hitting .444 on nine swings. Gant led all players in the first set with four total blocks.
Set Two
Following up on their momentum in the first set, the Cougars…