But on Thursday night, when No. 1 seed BYU and fifth-seeded UCSB tangle in an MPSF volleyball semifinal match at Smith Fieldhouse (7:30 p.m., BYUtv), Shawn Olmstead will obviously be pulling mightily against the Gauchos, a team he calls dangerous and totally capable of pulling off the upset.
The Cougars (24-3) swept the Gauchos (20-9) in a pair of matches in early February in Provo. The scores were 25-20, 25-16 and 26-24 the first night and 25-17, 25-23 and 25-14 the second night.
But UCSB is a "different team now," Olmstead said, and he would know.
"I think they are a lot better," he said.