Provo, Utah – No. 14 UC Irvine fell to No. 1 BYU 3-0 (21-25, 20-25, 23-25) in a MPSF quarterfinal match at Smith Fieldhouse to close out the season Saturday.
The Anteaters end with a 10-20 overall record, while BYU improves to 24-3 overall and will host the MPSF semifinals and finals next week.
Junior Michael Saeta and senior Kyle Russell led the Anteaters with 11 kills each. Saeta, the MPSF leader in aces, fired a team-high two against the Cougars. Senior Jason Agopian recorded seven kills and team-high three block assists. Thomas Hodges had six digs, three kills and two blocks and Dante Chakravorti recorded 31 set assists.
BYU was led by Ben Patch with 14 kills and Jake Langlois who hit .545 with 13 kills, eight digs and two block assists. Brenden Sander added nine kills.
In a tightly fought first set, BYU took charge with back-to-back blocks for a 15-12 lead. A UCI service error started a 6-1 BYU run to extend the Cougars margin to 23-16. A block by Thomas Hodges and Jason Agopian followed by a kill by Kyle Russell narrowed the deficit to 23-19, forcing a BYU timeout. A UCI service error ended the set 25-21.
Set two was back-and-forth until consecutive kills by BYU gave the Cougars an 11-9 advantage. A kill and block by Hodges knotted the score at 12-12 then Saeta fired an ace to push UCI in front 13-12. BYU would score the next two and regain the lead on a UCI hitting error, 15-14. An Anteater service error and an ace by Brendan Sander opened a 20-17 lead for BYU. The Cougars would score the final three points to win the set 25-20.
Ben Patch fired back-to-back aces in the third set to help BYU go to 8-5. The Cougars maintained control until a Russell kill and a BYU hitting error tied the set at 15-15. Marty Ross clamped down the net on consecutive plays to give UCI a 19-18 lead. The teams would trade points until a Cougar kill and ace gave BYU a 21-20 advantage. Two consecutive kills by the Cougars pushed the gap at 23-21 and the teams would side out the rest of the way giving BYU a 25-23 win on a UCI attack error.
