PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball will play No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. MST and Saturday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. MST.
It will be a battle between two undefeated teams as the Cougars (8-0) host the Gauchos (6-0) this upcoming weekend. Both matches will be televised on BYUtv as well as streamed on the BYUtv App and byutv.org.
The former conference foes have played 66 times with BYU leading the series 42-24. While UCSB has historically struggled in Provo with a record of 7-25, the Gauchos have won five of the last six matches played against the Cougars in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Winning the first eight matches of the season, BYU is off to its best start since going 12-0 to open the 2008 season. The Cougars have played one of the toughest schedules in the country, facing six ranked opponents and playing six of their eight matches on the road. They will have plenty of opportunities to compete in front of the home crowd going forward as seven of their next eight matches will be in Provo.
BYU remained at No. 2 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll and received two first-place votes after beating No. 5 UC Irvine twice last week. UCSB defeated No. 8 Stanford last Saturday to stay at No. 3.
The Cougars swept MPSF weekly honors for the second time this year. Opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez received the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week award and the conference named Wil Stanley the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week. BYU has now collected five of the eight total MPSF weekly honors so far this year.
Garcia Fernandez continues to lead the NCAA with an average of 1.00 aces per set. The junior also ranks second in points per set (5.86) and fifth in kills per set (4.39). Stanley is averaging 11.56 assists per set to rank second in the nation while outside hitter Davide Gardini is fourth in the country in both kills per set (4.50) and points per set (5.30).
As a team, the Cougars are currently second in the NCAA in both kills per set (13.64) and assists per set (12.75). They also rank third in hitting percentage (.360) and fourth in blocks per set (2.89).