No. 3 BYU volleyball hosts No. 8 UC Irvine, UC San Diego

PROVO, Utah—No. 3 BYU men’s volleyball welcomes No. 8 UC Irvine and UC San Diego to the Fieldhouse Friday and Saturday, respectively, for the first matches of a five-match home stand. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

The Cougars (13-4, 13-2 MPSF) defeated the Anteaters (13-8, 10-7 MPSF) in five sets in Irvine, Calif., Jan. 17. Senior Taylor Sander recorded 25 kills and nine digs against UC Irvine, helped out by Tyler Heap’s career-high 54 assists. BYU turned around and defeated UC San Diego (1-18, 0-17 MPSF) on the road Jan. 18.

BYU defeated Cal State Northridge 3-1 on the road Saturday. UC Irvine is on a four-match win streak after a pair of wins at Hawai’i, and UC San Diego comes off 3-0 losses to UC Santa Barbara and UCLA. The Cougars are 42-14 all-time against the Anteaters and 35-0 all-time against the Tritons.

Sander’s 4.58 kills per set are No. 2 in the nation and his .50 aces per set are No. 5. Cougar Michael Hatch is No. 3 in the NCAA for blocks per set with 1.49, and Heap is No. 1 in assists per set with 10.57.

The Cougars are ranked No. 4 for blocks per set with 2.90.

Zack La Cavera leads UC Irvine with 3.59 kills per set, helped out by Daniel Stork’s 10.50 assists per set. At the net, La Cavera and Jeremy Dejno average .64 and .56 blocks per set, respectively.

Mike Brunsting leads UC San Diego with 2.26 kills per set. Garrett Dempsey leads in assists with 8.51 per set. Fred Stahl averages .67 blocks per set.

Both matches can be streamed live online for free. For links to live stats and live streaming, visit the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.