PROVO, Utah – Matt Underwood and Jake Langlois combined for 26 kills in a four-set loss (25-23, 22-25, 19-25, 18-25) to No. 5 UC Irvine at home Saturday night.

"This is a nice team that we played," BYU men's volleyball head coach Chris McGown said. "There are a lot of physical people on that side of the floor. I just asked my team to come out and play as hard as we could, and I think we did that. A few points didn't go our way, but all our mistakes started catching up to us." 

Underwood finished with a team-high 15 kills to go along with five digs and a block. He also finished with a .355 hitting clip. Langlois added 11 kills, three blocks and a service ace, while freshman Price Jarman contributed nine kills and three blocks with a .500 hitting clip.

Robbie Sutton recorded 34 assists, a team-high eight digs and two blocks. Michael Hatch finished with five blocks, including a solo block, to go along with three kills.

Following three-straight points by Irvine, the Cougars tied the first set at four apiece with kills by Josue Rivera and Underwood and service aces by Jarman and Sutton. BYU reeled off a 7-1 run that included consecutive kills and a service ace by Langlois and a block by Jarman and Langlois to go up 13-9. The Anteaters cut their deficit 24-23, but the Cougars took the set 25-23 following Hatch’s kill.

In the second set, the Cougars went on a 5-2 run that included a service ace by Hatch and a backrow kill by Rivera to lead 10-6. Following a quick 12-11 lead by Irvine, Underwood recorded the next four BYU kills to give it back a 16-14 lead. Despite tying the game again at 21, the Cougars fell 25-23 as Irvine ended the set on a 4-1 run.

After battling back and forth in the third set, the Cougars took an 8-6 lead following Jarman’s kill. Both teams continued to trade points until a 4-0 run by the Anteaters gave them a four-point lead to take the set 25-19.

Following Irvine’s 12-6 start, Langlois registered consecutive kills to cut BYU’s deficit 12-8. However, the Anteaters continued to push their lead to take their third set in a row, 25-18.

The Cougars hit the road to take on Cal State Northridge on Friday, April 10, at 7 p.m. PDT at the Matadome. Links to live stats can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page. 

PROVO, Utah – No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball returns home this week for a pair of matchups against No. 5 UC Irvine Friday and Saturday night.

UC Irvine

• The Cougars (13-7, 10-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) face off against the Anteaters (18-4, 12-3 MPSF) Friday night at 7 p.m. MDT and Saturday at 8 p.m. MDT at the Smith Fieldhouse.
• BYU won both matches a season ago, picking up a sweep at home and a five-set thriller on the road.
• The Cougars lead the overall series 43-14, including a 22-4 record when playing at home.
• UC Irvine was picked to finish fifth in league play this year after posting an 18-11, 15-9 (T-5th MPSF) record in 2014.
• The Anteaters are led by Tamir Hershko’s 3.79 kills per set, 10.82 assists per set from Michael Saeta, Michael Brinkley’s 2.51 dig average and a 1.12 blocking average from Jason Agopian.

VIDEO/STATS

Both matches will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio. Links to live stats and video feeds can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.