Season Opens With Two Wins, BYU Downs No. 2 UCI

SANTA BARBARA -- Day one of the 2010 season was a success as the No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball team notched wins against No. 2 UC Irvine and No. 8 UCLA on Thursday in the first two rounds of the Santa Barbara Invitational.

The Cougars opened the tournament with a 3-1 upset victory (22-30, 30-26, 30-22, 30-27) over the Anteaters. UCI claimed the 2009 national championship played in Provo last May.

Senior outside hitter Andrew Stewart led the Cougars with 19 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Kevin Sagers and Robb Stowell contributed 17 kills apiece. Both Stewart and Sagers recorded double-doubles with 15 and 10 digs, respectively. Stewart picked up where he left off in 2009 when he earned 22 double-doubles on the season.

In its second match of the day, BYU pulled out a tough five-set win over UCLA (30-26, 24-30, 27-30, 30-24, 15-11).

With the wins the Cougars advance to the tournament championship match on Friday when they will play No. 9 Cal State Northridge at 6:30 p.m. MT. Tickets to the match can be purchased by calling the UCSB Ticket Office at (805) 893-UCSB or visiting the website HERE.