BYU hosts final regular season matches against No. 1 UCLA this weekend

PROVO, Utah — BYU men’s volleyball will play its final opponent of the regular season, No. 1 UCLA, in the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16.

With its final matchup leading up to the MPSF tournament, BYU will be celebrating its senior athletes on Saturday as part of Senior Night, honoring opposite hitter Alex Ah Sue, outside hitter Davide Gardini and middle blocker Branden Oberender.

The MPSF Men's Volleyball Tournament will begin with the quarterfinals starting things off on Wednesday, April 20. The Cougars currently sit as the No. 6 seed, but depending on Stanford's and Pepperdine's performances against each other this weekend, BYU could move up in the rankings if they pull off wins over UCLA. The Cougars can't drop to seventh, considering they are two games ahead of Concordia Irvine and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Teams that win on Wednesday will advance to the semifinals on Thursday. The championship match will take place on Saturday, April 23.

Brigham Young University Cougars (8-14, 3-7 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation)

Last weekend, BYU faced Stanford in the Maples Pavilion, posting two road losses (3-0, 2-3).
Nationally, BYU ranks No. 15 in assists per set (11.49), No. 15 in hitting percentage (.291), No. 17 in kills per set (12.14) and No. 20 in blocks per set (2.006).
Senior outside hitter Davide Gardini ranks No. 11 in the NCAA in kills per set (3.98), No. 12 in points per set (4.58) and No. 16 in attacks per set (8.31).
Out of BYU’s 22 matches this season, head coach Shawn Olmstead has had 12 different starting lineups, as the Cougars rebuild after losing five starters from last season.
The Cougars finished the 2021 season with a 20-4 record, its eighth MPSF conference championship title, a trip to the NCAA national championship game and a No. 2 national ranking.

No. 1 University of California Los Angeles Bruins (19-3, 9-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation)

The Bruins are on a seven-match winning streak after dominating Pepperdine last weekend in two sweeps.
Sophomore setter and opposite hitter Miles Partain was honored on Monday as the MPSF Player of the Week and MPSF Offensive Player of the Week.
Nationally, Stanford ranks No. 1 in hitting percentage (.376), No. 3 in kills per set (13.26), No. 3 in match winning percentage (.864), No. 5 in assists per set (12.21), No. 7 in blocks per set (2.481), No. 10 in aces per set (1.60) and No. 13 in opponent hitting percentage (.218).
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Merrick McHenry ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in hitting percentage (.537) and No. 18 in blocks per set (.986).
Partain ranks No. 7 in the NCAA in assists per set (10.25).

BROADCAST INFORMATION – April 15