LOS ANGELES – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball fell to No. 5 UCLA in straight sets (25-21, 25-23, 25-22) Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion to conclude regular-season play.

"Hats off to UCLA for a well-played match," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "They came out and executed better than us tonight."

Gabi Garcia Fernandez led the Cougars with 14 kills on a .435 clip and five digs. Zach Hendrickson collected five digs and Leo Durkin had 19 assists. Felipe de Brito Ferreira added three blocks and Storm Fa’agata-Tufuga contributed nine kills on a .400 clip.

UCLA (22-6, 9-3 MPSF) jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first set after several BYU (20-6, 10-2 MPSF) errors. The Cougars then called timeout, trailing 15-8 after a 4-1 Bruin run. An ace from Fernandez got BYU back within four, down 20-16, but it wasn’t enough as UCLA won the set 25-21 on a block.

A block and kill from Brenden Sander pushed the Cougars out to a 5-2 advantage in the second set. The Bruins got back within one, down 7-6, after a block, but BYU scored the next three points to stay ahead 10-6. UCLA then went on a 6-1 rally to take a 13-12 edge. A pair of Fa’agata-Tufuga kills evened things up at 17-all, but the Bruins took a 22-19 lead after scoring five of the next seven points. The Cougars staved off three set points before UCLA eventually took the set 25-23 after a kill.

The Bruins took a 6-1 lead early in the third set after a handful of BYU errors and an ace. A Sander kill brought the Cougars back within two, down 10-8, but UCLA pushed things back to four at 16-12. A Fernandez ace capped off a 3-1 BYU run to get his team back within a pair, 20-18. The run didn't last as a service error gave the Bruins the set and match 25-22.

The Cougars next compete at home as the No. 1 seed in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. MDT. The match will be televised live by BYUtv.

PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball finishes regular-season play this week with league matches at No. 4 Pepperdine and No. 5 UCLA. The Cougars will compete with the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament on the line.

With at least a share of the regular-season league title already secured, BYU (19-5, 9-1 MPSF) needs to win at least one of its two matches this week (or have the Waves and Bruins each lose their other match of the week) in order to secure the No. 1 seed for the MPSF Tournament.

With a No. 1 seed, the Cougars would host the semifinals and finals of the conference tournament and have a bye through the quarterfinals. With a No. 2 or No. 3 seed, BYU would only host the quarterfinals.

No. 4 Pepperdine

• The Cougars face off against the Waves (14-6, 7-3 MPSF) at the Firestone Fieldhouse Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m. PDT.
• Pepperdine leads the overall series history between the squads 32-30.
• BYU has won the past three meetings, including a five-set come-from-behind win at home earlier this season.
• The Cougars are just 10-23 when playing the Waves on the road.
• Pepperdine has won their past four-consecutive matches after losing three of four before that.

No. 5 UCLA

• BYU finishes out the week playing at conference rival UCLA (20-6, 7-3 MPSF) Saturday, April 7, at 7 p.m. PDT at Pauley Pavilion.
• The Cougars hold a 34-31 lead in the all-time series history and is the only school with an overall winning record against the Bruins.
• BYU has won eight-straight matches against UCLA, including picking up a sweep at home earlier this year.
• The Cougars are only 11-20 when competing against the Bruins on their home court.
• UCLA had won five matches in a row following its loss to BYU in March before falling at cross-town rival USC last week.

Thursday’s match against Pepperdine will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Saturday’s contest at UCLA will be televised live by the Pac-12 Network. Live stats will be available for both matches and can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.