GOLETA, Calif. – Jake Langlois led No. 4 BYU men's volleyball past No. 8 UC Santa Barbara in a five-set thriller (25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 19-25, 15-13) Saturday night in a rematch at Robertson Gymnasium. 

"I thought we came in with an entirely different attitude tonight," BYU head coach Chris McGown said. "The guys played with a certain ferocity that they didn't have yesterday. We took some good swings early tonight and then were in a battle in the third and fourth sets. It was anyone's game there in the fifth - we had some bounces go our way. Santa Barbara's a great team. I told the guys they had to take a ton of confidence from getting a split this weekend. Hopefully the win gives the guys a message that we can be a really, really good team down the stretch."

Langlois led the Cougars with 17 kills in addition to a career-high seven blocks. Tyler Heap contributed 45 assists and a career-tying five blocks, while Jaylen Reyes added a team-high 11 digs. Michael Hatch led the team in blocks, collecting a season-high 10 in the BYU win. Additionally, Kiril Meretev added double-digit kills (13) in the victory.

It looked as if the Cougars (4-2, 3-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) would easily sweep the Gauchos (5-3, 1-3 MPSF) after winning the first two sets by a combined 11 points, but late-match heroics gave UCSB the next two sets, sending it to a decisive fifth.

The score was tied at four apiece in the fifth before a Hatch and Langlois block followed by two Gaucho attack errors gave BYU a three-point advantage at 7-4. UCSB kept things close by tying the set back up at 8-all, but two-straight Cougar points gave them an 11-9 edge. With the score tied at 11, BYU capitalized on a pair of Gaucho attack errors to go back up 13-11. UCSB stayed within a point at 14-13, but Langlois ended the set and match for the Cougars 15-13 with a kill.    

BYU got the first points of the first set with a Meretev kill and block to help the Cougars go up 4-1 early. UCSB responded by bringing it back within a point at 9-8, capitalizing on a pair of BYU errors. The Cougars then quickly countered with a 3-1 rally, which included a Langlois kill, to take a three-point advantage at 12-9. The two teams traded points back and forth from there with the Gauchos tying up the set from points 13 to 17. BYU followed with a 7-2 rally that gave the Cougars set point at 24-19. UCSB then fought off one set-ending point before a Gaucho service error secured the 25-20 BYU win.

Tim Dobbert got things started off in the second set for the Cougars with a kill, and BYU extended its lead at 4-1 following a Meretev service ace. UCSB was undeterred, however, netting the next five-consecutive points to take a 6-4 edge. A trio of blocks from Hatch then helped secure the next six-straight points for the Cougars as his team retook a 10-6 lead, forcing a Gaucho timeout along the way. A Langlois kill capped off a 9-1 BYU rally, extending the Cougars' advantage to six at 13-7. BYU maintained its momentum, staying ahead 19-12 after another Dobbert kill. Despite a late rally from UCSB, the Cougars were able to easily take the second set 25-19. 

The Gauchos jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the third set, capitalizing on several BYU errors. The Cougars battled back, staying in the set down two at 9-7 following a Hatch and Langlois block. Following the roof, UCSB went on a 5-1 run to extend its lead to six at 14-8, forcing McGown to take a timeout. The teams traded points from there as a Gaucho service error kept BYU within reach, down 19-13. The Cougars had trouble slowing down UCSB's offense in the end as the Gauchos took the set 25-19.

Three kills from Langlois helped BYU tie up the fourth set at an even 5-all. UCSB followed a 4-1 Cougar run with four-straight points of its own to go up 9-6, forcing a BYU timeout. The Cougars took their final timeout following another 4-1 Gaucho rally that put them up 16-10 midway through the set. Both sides exchanged scores from that point as UCSB went up by eight at 22-14 after a pair of BYU attack errors. Despite following with a 5-2 rally, the Cougars fell 25-19 for a second-straight set, sending it to the decisive fifth.

The Cougars return home to the Smith Fieldhouse Friday at 7 p.m. MST for the first of a pair of matchups against UC San Diego. Friday's match will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio. Links to live stats and a video feed can be found on the BYU men's volleyball schedule page. 

PROVO, Utah – No. 4 BYU men’s volleyball hits the road this week for a pair of conference matches against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara.

UCSB

• The Cougars (3-1, 2-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) face off against the Gauchos (4-2, 0-2 MPSF) both Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. PST in Rob Gym.
• BYU leads the overall series between the two schools 35-20, including a 14-12 record when playing on the road.
• The squads split the regular-season matchups with each team winning on its home court. The two teams met for a third match last season in the MPSF semifinals where the Cougars picked up a 3-0 win.
• UCSB started the season 4-0 before dropping a pair of matches at Hawaii to start conference play.
• The Gauchos were picked to finish second in this year’s preseason coaches’ poll.
• UCSB is led by Kevin Donohue’s 4.00 kills per set, 10.90 assists per set from Jonah Seif, Hayden Boehle’s 2.38 dig average and 1.38 blocks per set from Jake Staahl.

BYU won both matches last week at home against No. 4 UCLA to begin 2-0 in league play.

STATS

Live stats will be available for both matches this week. Links can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.