In the first of two NCAA Volleyball Tournament regional matches Thursday night, Utah State played the spoiler in knocking off No. 19 BYU at Crimson Court.

The Aggies beat the Cougars for the second time this year, winning a five-set thriller 30 26, 29-31, 30-23, 27-30, 16 14.

The euphoric win pushes the Aggies into the second round of the tourney and puts them one win away from a Sweet 16 berth.

For BYU, the loss marks the first time in five years the team failed to reach that plateau. It was also the first time since 1984 the Y didn’t host the opening rounds. But no one could find a pertinent excuse.

“It is hard to know exactly what happened,” said BYU senior All-American Nina Puikkonen, who had 22 kills and 16 digs.

“That’s about as even as you can play a match,” said BYU coach Elaine Michaelis. “We just didn’t get a break when we needed one.”

In addition to the score, the teams were nearly identical in kills, digs and killing percentage.

Aggie senior Michelle Matheson, who led with 20 kills and a .447 attack percentage, remained poised throughout.

“I always felt we were in control of the match,” Matheson said. Despite blowing a five-point lead in game four, the Aggies kept their calm. “We stayed composed and our confidence remained high,” she said.

“We beat a real good team tonight,” said Utah State coach Burt Fuller. “BYU is one of the top teams in the country. That’s what made the win pretty special.”

USU will now take on Utah tonight at 7 p.m.