PROVO, Utah — After two sweeps against Princeton, the No. 8 BYU men's volleyball team remains in the Fieldhouse for a pair of matches against No. 7 UC Irvine on Friday and Saturday.
COUGARS (6-1)
Through two wins over Princeton, MPSF Offensive Player of the Week Trent Moser led the Cougars in kills through two sweeps against Princeton, totaling 23 on a .213 hitting percentage. Overall, the sophomore has led the team in kills in four of its eight matches in 2024. Setter Tyler Herget had a team-high of 12 digs along with 60 assists so far this week. Luke Benson recorded the most aces with three.
BYU has won the last 18 games in-a-row at the Smith Fieldhouse, the second-most in the rally scoring era.
ANTEATERS (3-1)
UC Irvine is on a three-game win streak after trailing 3-2 against George Mason in its season opener. The Anteaters have two players leading the team in kills this season, with outside hitter Nolan Flexen and outside hitter Hilir Heno each with 55. Henno also leads the team in aces with 14 and points with 74.
UC Irvine entered the 2024 season listed at No. 4 in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll. In 2023, the Anteaters finished at No. 5 in the final AVCA Coaches Poll of the season. UC Irvine's 2023 season ended after a loss to No. 1 Hawaii in the Big West championship match.
COUGARS VS ANTEATERS
UCI and BYU split a pair of matches last season at the Bren Events Center. In the first meeting, the Anteater block was dominate, rejecting a season-high 13. Eight different UCI players recorded at least one block assist in the win, led by Maxim Grigoriev who stuffed a match and career-high seven block assists. The Cougars won in five sets the next match, handing UCI its first loss of the 2023 season. It was BYU’s turn to dominate the net, posting 22 blocks, the second most in the country last season.
The Anteaters did make a visit to Smith Fieldhouse last season, beating Lewis and McKendree on the neutral court. The last time UCI visited BYU, the Cougars won twice in 2022. UCI’s last win in Provo was a 3-1 victory on March 9, 2019 in the second match of a pair of games.
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