Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

Shawn Olmstead Named MPSF Coach of the Year

4/28/2021 9:00:27 AM

Photo: BYU Head Coach Shawn Olmstead (Courtesy: BYU Athletics)
 
BYU Head Coach Shawn Olmstead has guided the 2021 Cougars to a 19-3 season (.864), 17-3 first-place finish in the MPSF, and No. 2 AVCA national ranking entering the NCAA Tournament. BYU, which has swept 14 matches this year, won its MPSF record-setting eighth MPSF Championship with straight-set wins over No. 9 Grand Canyon and No. 5 Pepperdine. The outcomes marked the third conference title for BYU in the five years the event has been contested with Olmstead as head coach. Within a 12-match win streak from Feb. 27-Apr. 9, the Cougars won 36 of their 38 sets, all against MPSF competition. Through the conference championship, BYU as a team ranks in the top-three nationally in several categories, including hitting percentage (second, .348), blocks per set (second, 2.78), and aces per set (third, 1.76). Individually, Gabi Garcia Fernandez ranks fifth in the nation with 0.54 aces per set, while Felipe de Brito Ferreira ranks No. 5 in the NCAA in blocks per set (1.25). Garcia Fernandez recently broke into the MPSF’s all-time top-10 in career aces, sitting in ninth entering the NCAA Tournament and just three away from the all-time school record with 179. Olmstead has a record of 124-32 (.795) in nearly six full years with the BYU men, the highest win percentage of any active coach in NCAA Division I-II. This is Olmstead’s fourth MPSF Coach of the Year honor in his six years at the helm of the program. His recognition this year represents BYU’s eighth all-time coach of the year award (Olmstead-2021, 2020, 2018, 2016; Chris McGown-2013; Tom Peterson-2003; Carl McGown-2001 & 1999).