PROVO, Utah — No. 10 BYU men’s volleyball welcomes No. 3 UC Irvine to the Smith Fieldhouse this weekend for back-to-back matches on Friday and Saturday, both at 7 p.m. MT.
No. 10 BYU (8-5, 3-2 MPSF)
The Cougars are coming off two matches against No. 8 Stanford, winning one in Provo in five sets and losing the other in California in four sets. The win in the fifth-set overtime kept BYU undefeated at home this season. The Smith Fieldhouse ranks No. 2 in the nation in average attendance this year with 3,325 coming out each match, trailing Hawai’i by less than 200 fans per match for first place.
Davide Gardini earned his third Off the Block National Freshman of the Week honor for two standout performances against Stanford, becoming the only player in the nation with three selections this season. He had a career-high 22 kills on a .515 hitting percentage on Thursday in Provo and a career-high five block assists to go along with 13 kills and 10 digs for his second double-double of the season at Stanford on Saturday. He is the only BYU player with a double-double this season.
Sophomore Gabi Garcia Fernandez continued his consistent offensive output against the Cardinal, putting up 13 kills in each match to extend his double-digit streak to nine consecutive matches. He remains at the top of the MPSF in kills and points with 4.26 and 5.00 per set averages, respectively. He also contributed on the defensive end with eight total digs and six blocks on the week.
Junior middle blocker Miki Jauhiainen remains the anchor on the defensive end for the Cougars, with four-or-more blocks in each of his past four matches. He had five against Stanford in Provo and is second in the MPSF in blocks with 1.15 per set.
BYU as a team has set itself apart on the defensive end, leading the MPSF in blocks with 2.43 per set and ranking third in opponent hitting percentage at .256.
No. 3 UC Irvine (13-4, 2-2 Big West)
The Anteaters lost back-to-back matches last week for the first time this season, getting swept twice by No. 2 Hawai’i at home in Irvine.
BYU owns the all-time series against UCI, 47-19, but the Anteaters have won three of four matchups in the past two years. The most recent BYU victory came in a sweep at home in the Smith Fieldhouse on Jan. 28, 2017.
Sophomore outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller leads the Anteaters on offense with 3.58 kills per set, while 7-foot junior Scott Stadick leads on defense with 1.34 blocks per set, good for fourth in the nation.
BYU’s defense bests UCI’s statistically with 11.6-13.0 and .256-.260 advantages in opponent kills and opponent hitting percentage, respectively, while the Anteaters take the cake on offense with 13.0-11.6 and .318-.311 leads in kills per set and hitting percentage, respectively.
The matches will be streamed live on TheW.tv and links for live stats can be found on the schedule page.