PROVO, Utah – The No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball team swept No. 7 UCLA (31-29, 25-12, 25-23) Thursday night in the Smith Fieldhouse to earn its first conference win and remain unbeaten this season.

BYU vs. UCLA Box Score

"We're always happy with a sweep over UCLA," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "We were a little tentative in the first set and I was proud of our guys for staying in it. We were able to make good touches and things started to open up more once we started getting the ball to other hitters."

Opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez led all players in kills and dropping aces, snagging 13 kills on a .429 clip and three aces. Outside hitter Davide Gardini totaled 11 kills, four digs and three blocks while setter Wil Stanley connected on all three of his attack attempts to match his career high in kills. Middle blocker Felipe de Brito Ferreira led all players in blocks, matching his season-high of six block assists. 

Set 1
The Cougars (11-0, 1-0 MPSF) and Bruins (5-4, 0-1) got off to a competitive start in the first set. The game was not separated by more than three points at any point as both teams battled back and forth. Back-to-back blocks from Miki Jauhiainen, Zach Eschenberg and Garcia Fernandez brought the score to 17-14 for the Cougars. After continuing to go point-for-point with UCLA, BYU closed out the first set off a Bruin attack error, 31-29.

Set 2
Carrying the momentum from set one, kills by Garcia Fernandez and Jauhiainen fueled a 5-1 run to start out the second game. BYU capitalized on several UCLA errors to increase its advantage before a block from Stanley and de Brito Ferreira extended the Cougars' lead to 11 points, 21-10. Kills by Stanley and Garcia Fernandez ended the set to give the BYU the win, 25-12.

Set 3
Garcia Fernandez secured his second and third aces of the night during a five-point serving streak at the start of set three. After the Bruins came back to tie the game at 14-all, both teams went point-for-point until kills by Garcia Fernandez and Eschenberg helped BYU take a 21-18 edge. De Brito Ferreira connected on a kill to clinch the set, 25-23, and give the Cougars their first MPSF win this season.

BYU will continue its homestand against No. 8 Pepperdine on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 5 p.m. MST. The match will be televised on BYUtv and live streams will be available on BYUtv.org and the BYUtv App. Tickets are available for purchase at byutickets.com

PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball will open conference action at home with matches this week against No. 7 UCLA and No. 8 Pepperdine at the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU Game Notes
Pepperdine Game Notes

The Cougars (10-0) will face the seventh-ranked Bruins (5-3) to begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. MST before hosting the eighth-ranked Waves (3-2) on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 5 p.m. MST. Both matches will be televised live on BYUtv and will be streamed on the BYUtv App and byutv.org.

The MPSF coaches tabbed BYU to win the conference this year in their preseason poll. UCLA came in just behind the Cougars after receiving two of the seven first-place votes while Pepperdine was picked to finish fourth.

Winning its first 10 matches, BYU is off to its best start since going 12-0 to open the 2008 season. The Cougars remain ranked No. 2 in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll while receiving five first-place votes. BYU moved atop the rankings of this week’s Off the Block National Media Poll after beating No. 3 UC Santa Barbara in back-to-back matches. The Cougars have played one of the toughest schedules in the country with eight of their 10 wins coming against ranked opponents.

UCLA is coming off a four-set win over No. 4 Long Beach State, handing the Beach their first loss of the season. The Bruins currently average 2.31 aces per set to lead the NCAA and are third in the nation with an average hitting percentage of 3.42. BYU holds the advantage when the two teams meet in Provo with a 24-10 home record over UCLA.

Pepperdine had a bye week last week after losing to No. 4 Long Beach State in four sets the previous week. The 2019 MPSF champions had to replace three all-conference players from last year and will look to rebound after dropping their last two non-conference matches. The Waves will begin MPSF action at No. 13 Stanford on Thursday before making the trip to play the Cougars in Provo.

BYU opposite hitter Gabi Garcia Fernandez continues to lead the NCAA in aces per set with an average of .946. The junior also ranks second in points per set (5.55) and is fifth in kills per set (4.14). Coming off his second-consecutive MPSF Defensive Player of the Week award, Wil Stanley is second in the nation with 10.85 assists per set.

As a team, the Cougars are second in the NCAA with a hitting percentage of .343 and third in assists per set with 12.24. BYU is also currently fifth in blocks per set (2.649) and sixth in both kills per set (13.03) and aces per set (1.86).