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NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
NO. 2 SEED UC IRVINE BATTLES NO. 1 BYU IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: UC Irvine, the second seed, will battle top-seeded BYU Saturday (May 4) at 6:00 p.m. PT at Pauley Pavilion in a NCAA Championship match.
The match will be broadcast on ESPNU.
VERSUS THE COUGARS: UCI trails BYU 41-12 in the series records all-time. This will be the first time the teams have met in an NCAA event with BYU holding a 3-1 advantage in MPSF post-season contests.
The Cougars won the first meeting of the year in Provo, 3-1. Kevin Tillie led UCI with a 19 kills and three block assists, while Jeremy Dejno added 16 kills and a team-high 10 digs. Setter Daniel Stork recorded 46 set assists in his first start of the season. BYU's Taylor Sander recorded a team-best 16 kills followed by Russell Lavaja and Josue Rivera with 12 kills each.
The second meeting in Irvine was an epic match between the nation's top two teams with BYU winning 3-2 after trailing 0-2 and 19-14 in the third.
UCI middle blocker Collin Mehring set a school record with a career-high 14 block assists to go with 11 kills. Tillie paced UCI with 20 kills, 11 digs, four aces and five block assists. Zack La Cavera had 15 kills, six digs and six block assists, while Stork totaled a career-high 52 set assists and four block assists.
The Anteaters had a season-high 23 service errors, while BYU committed just 12. The Cougars led in hitting (.241-.234) and digs (55-38), while UCI held the advantage in blocks (17-14) and aces (9-2).
BYU's Ben Patch led all players with a career-high 35 kills, which is a BYU rally scoring record. He also added eight digs and five block assists. Rivera notched 12 kills, seven digs and five block assists and Sander had eight kills and hit -.049, but led all players with 14 digs. Jaylen Reyes totaled 13 digs, while Lavaja had a team-best eight block assists. Setter Ryan Boyce tallied 50 set assists, 11 digs and four block assists.
MUST-SEE VOLLEYBALL: A season-best 5,038 fans saw UCI and BYU battle in Provo then a crowd of 2,906 watched at the Bren Center, which was a season-high for the Anteaters.
HIGH OCTANE OFFENSES COLLIDE: The title match features two of the nation's most potent offenses. UC Irvine is second in kills (12.9) and fourth in hitting percentage (.310), while the Cougars lead the country in hitting percentage (.329) and are 10th in kills (12.6).
TITLE MATCH FEATURES DEFENSE TOO: While offense usually takes center stage, the teams are highly skilled defensive teams as well. BYU is ranked second in the country in blocks (3.0) and the Anteaters are sixth (2.7). The Anteaters hold opponents to a .240 hitting percentage, which is the best in the MPSF and BYU is third with a .243 mark.
AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: UCI is making its fifth NCAA appearance and is 7-1 in NCAA contests all-time.
The Anteaters last NCAA loss was UCI's first appearance in 2006 when they fell to Penn State, 3-2 on May 4 at Penn State.
UCI has been the No. 1 seed for the tournament three times (2006, 2009, 2012) and the second seed on two occasions (2007, 2013).
UCI has won three of the last six titles, capturing the crown in 2007, 2009 and 2012.
DEFENDING THE TITLE: UCI won the 2012 national championship with a 3-0 victory over USC at the Galen Center. UCI looks to be the first school to win back-to-back championships since UCLA did it in 1995 and 1996.
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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.
_____________________________________________________________
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.
