Santa Barbara, Calif. –  No. 2 UC Irvine upset No. 1 BYU, 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23) in the first round of the UCSB/asics Invitational at the Thunderdome Friday morning.

UC Irvine improves to 2-0 on the year and will face Long Beach State at 7:00 p.m. tonight. The Forty-Niners defeated Loyola-Chicago, 3-0 in their first match.

UCI was led by sophomore Jeremy Dejno with 18 kills and two aces. Senior Carson Clark added 14 kills, three aces and six digs, while senior Kevin Carroll totaled 12 kills, five digs and an ace. Middle blockers Scott Kevorken and Dan McDonnell each had seven kills in the win. Sophomore setter Daniel Stork recorded 53 set assists.

UCI led 7-6 in the first set and watched BYU take a 10-8 lead on back-to-back aces. The Anteaters pulled within 22-21 on a Dan McDonnell kill, but the Cougars won the set on two UCI service errors and an Anteater attack error, 25-21.

UCI jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the second set behind a Jeremy Dejno solo block and a service ace by Carson Clark. The Anteaters would go on to the 25-19 win before taking the third set 25-17.

The Anteaters held a 17-15 advantage in the fourth set and opened a 19-15 lead on consecutive BYU attack errors. A Kevin Carroll kill gave UCI a 21-19 advantage, but BYU mounted a comeback, scoring three unanswered to take the 22-21 lead. A pair of Dejno kills was followed by a block by McDonnell and Carroll to push UCI ahead 24-22. A BYU kill preceded Dejno's match winner, 25-23.  

This is the first of three meetings with BYU over nine days as UCI will host the Cougars Jan. 13 and 14 in the Bren Center. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. Visit the UCI Ticket page for information.

______________________________________________________________________

For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu.  For more information click here.

For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu.  For additional information, click here.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.