LOS ANGELES – Strong play from Jake Langlois and Ben Patch propelled No. 3 BYU men's volleyball to a four-set upset (25-17, 19-25, 27-25, 25-13) of No. 1 UCLA Friday night at the John Wooden Center.

"I thought we had great team effort and competition tonight," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "I loved the fight and rebound we faced after the second set."

Patch led the Cougars with 15 kills and Langlois added 14 while hitting at a .393 clip. Leo Durkin contributed 39 assists while Erik Sikes added seven digs. Michael Hatch topped the team in blocks with a season high 12 and Brenden Sander collected collected double-digit kills with 10 to round out the scoring effort.

BYU (20-3, 16-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) took an early 2-0 lead in the first set after a pair of UCLA (21-4, 15-4 MPSF) errors. That lead was then quickly extended to 10-3 following a trio of aces from Durkin, forcing a Bruin timeout along the way. The Cougars led by as many as eight at 13-5 before a 4-1 UCLA rally brought it back within five, down 14-9. The Bruins narrowed the gap even further to three points at 16-13, following another 4-1 run. BYU countered with a 5-1 rally, which included a pair of Hatch blocks, to extend the lead back out to six at 21-15. Langlois then ended the set 25-17 after a solo block and kill.

UCLA took a 3-1 advantage to start the second set, but the Cougars came back to tie things up at 6-all with a Hatch and Sander block. The Bruins were once again fueled by a 4-1 rally to retake the advantage at 10-7. UCLA then extended its lead at 18-11 after back-to-back kills and consecutive aces from Jake Arnitz, forcing a BYU timeout. With the Cougars down by as many as eight, BYU rattled off four-straight points to come back within four at 20-16. The rally proved too late as the Bruins evened the match with a 25-19 set two win. 

UCLA got off to another hot start in the third set, taking a 3-1 advantage with a pair of kills and an ace. The Cougars then took their first lead of the set at 6-5 following a Bruin attack error. The score remained neck-to-neck from there as five more Patch kills gave BYU the 15-14 edge around the midway point of the set. A Sander kill then helped the Cougars to a 20-18 advantage before UCLA scored on a 4-1 run to retake the lead at 22-21. BYU had to fend off a set point before a Langlois kill put the Cougars up 25-24. Another Langlois kill gave BYU another opportunity at set point with a Sander and Price Jarman block ending the close set 27-25.

A pair of Langlois crosscourt kills and aces helped the Cougars to a 5-3 lead early on in the fourth set. Back-to-back Hatch blocks extended BYU's lead to four at 11-7 and a 4-1 Cougar run brought the lead out to seven at 17-10, forcing a Bruin timeout. BYU rolled from there, taking the set and match 25-13 on a UCLA attack error. 

The Cougars return to the John Wooden Center Saturday, April 2, at 7 p.m. PDT for a rematch with the Bruins. The match will be streamed live online by UCLA. Links to live stats as well as a video and audio feed can be found on the BYU men's volleyball schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – No. 3 BYU men’s volleyball stays on the road this week for a pair of crucial conference matchups against No. 1 UCLA.

Last Time Out

The Cougars (19-3, 15-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) swept UC San Diego on the road in the pair of conference matches to remain tied for first place in MPSF play.  Brenden Sander matched a career high in kills the first night with 16 while Ben Patch added a team-high 14 kills the following night.

No. 1 UCLA

• BYU will face off against UCLA (21-3, 15-3 MPSF) Friday, April 1, at 8 p.m. PDT. The two teams will play again Saturday, April 2, at 7 p.m. PDT.
• Last week, the Bruins picked up a five-set win at CSUN and a sweep at No. 4 Long Beach State. UCLA has won its last eight matches heading into the BYU contests.
• The Bruins hold a 31-28 advantage in the overall series history. The Cougars are just 9-20 when playing at UCLA. BYU won both matches last year in Provo against the then–No. 4 team, first a sweep followed by a four-set victory.
• BYU, UCLA and Stanford are all tied for first place in conference play, with Long Beach State now one match behind first. With just four regular-season matches left on the schedule, outcomes to both of this week’s matches will help determine seeding for the league tournament.

Match Info

Both matches will be played this week at the John Wooden Center, as opposed to the traditional Pauley Pavilion arena. Friday’s match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Los Angeles. Saturday’s match will be streamed live by UCLA. Links to live stats and video/audio feeds can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.