'The sky's the limit': BYU's other AJ helping No. 8 men's volleyball to 3-0 start

PROVO — BYU middle blocker AJ Cottle has so many nicknames, a few of which have been captured on video and a handful of others are the subject of his teammates' jokes during practices in the Smith Fieldhouse.

There's Slim Reaper, a nod to his long-armed, 6-foot, 8-inch frame, Big Red and Ginger, which refers to his hair color. One of them came recently — AJ Dy-bounce-a — which is obviously a reference to five-star freshman AJ Dybantsa on the No. 11 BYU men's basketball squad.

"I've got so many nicknames," Cottle said with a laugh.

BYU coach Shawn Olmstead says you can call him whatever you want, and Cottle agrees; good nicknames take time, and he has plenty of that.But since the Timpview High graduate first picked up a volleyball before his senior year, his rise has been astronomical.

At least, if his first collegiate start against a top-10 opponent is any indication.

Cottle had six kills, three blocks, a dig and an ace as the No. 8 Cougars swept No. 10 UC San Diego, 25-21, 25-19, 25-19. GCU transfer Connor Oldani put down a career-high 16 kills, three blocks and three digs, and Tyler Herget dished out 27 assists and five digs for the Cougars, who started 3-0 for the fourth consecutive season Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 4,230 fans in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Such an environment can be intimidating for plenty of players, but not so much for Cottle, who casually went about his business against a Tritons squad that BYU held to .290 hitting including .130 in the final set.

"He did better than I thought he would," Olmstead admitted candidly. "He had a couple of whiffs last weekend, and I was thinking he might come back down to earth a little bit with a bigger crowd, and playing a top-10 team. But he started out hot, got a little funky with his timing and stuff at the end — but that's to be expected from a kid like that, right?

"No doubt, I think he exceeded what we believed he would do," he added. "The sky's the limit for that kid. We've been saying that, and he's going to be a star — he has the personality for that, too. Everybody loves him. The guys call him 'the real AJ.'"

Oldani put down all seven of his swings in the first set, and Cottle capped a 25-21 win with the Cougars' third ace of the opening set to take a 1-0 advantage.

The long-limbed freshman then put down three of the first eight kills with a block as BYU took an 8-4 start to the second set. The Tritons came back — as top-10 programs nationally are wont to do, briefly tying the set at 10-all.

But the Cougars hit .320 in the second set and had just three errors on their first 46 swings to take a 2-0 lead on Oldani's 11th kill of the match, and BYU never looked back.

Not bad for a player who played basketball until his family moved to Utah, picked up a volleyball for the first time before his senior season, and rose to Utah Boys Volleyball All-Star status in 2022.

Still, Cottle was raw when Olmstead first recruited him — so the veteran coach with a .711 winning percentage in 11 seasons leading his alma mater had a plan. Cottle would spend a semester at Utah Valley before serving a a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rosario, Argentina and enrolling at BYU.

The Wolverines don't field an NCAA Division I men's volleyball team. But Cottle tried out for the school's competitive club program, made the 'B' squad in one day, and rose to develop consistent minutes on the first team while growing physically into the game. Olmstead was even prepared to give up a year of eligibility, because he knew Cottle would play more and develop physically.

But an NCAA rule change even gave back that year of eligibility, and the former Timpview standout has taken advantage of his newfound maturity (of two seasons) in the game.

"It's been a different kind of journey," he said. "We were able to make a plan and just continue to develop over that year that I had at UVU, to just get bigger, stronger, jump higher. That prepared me for here, I guess.

"I originally thought there was no way I would ever play coming right home from my mission," added Cottle, who returned home in 2025. "I thought I would have to redshirt or maybe have three years left. I planned on redshirting this year. But to come home and find out that the world changed was super exciting — and I was excited and anxious to play."

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