PROVO -- The No. 3 BYU men's volleyball team completed their weekend sweep of the UC Irvine Anteaters with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22. 25-21) win on Saturday in the Smith Fieldhouse.

“We played a complete match last night and we just wanted to come back and do it again,” said BYU head coach Rob Neilson. “Defensively, I thought we played a lot better tonight as we forced them into some swings they didn’t want to take. I thought Joe did a great job running our defense and our hitters attacked the court and made some really good choices.”

Freshman Taylor Sander led in kills for the night with a game-high total of 13 and a .600 hitting percentage.

Both teams battled for the lead throughout the first set until the Cougars jumped ahead to 17-13 after a five-point run. The team built off of their lead to win the first set 25-17 with help from Sander and Rob Stowell who contributed four kills each.

BYU trailed in the second set before rallying a comeback to tie the score at 21-21. After a three-point run, the Cougars finished strong, winning 25-22. Sander tied with UC Irvine’s Carson Clark for the set-high five kills.

The third set was back and forth until the Cougars brought home the sweep on a five-point run to tie the game before extending their lead to 17-13 and finally finishing at 25-21 on a final kill by Stowell.

The Cougars will again fill the Smith Fieldhouse next weekend on February 4 & 5 at 7 p.m. when they take on the UCLA Bruins.

The No. 3 BYU men's volleyball team will play its 2011 home opener this weekend against No. 7 UC Irvine on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28 and 29, at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

The Cougars host the Anteaters with an overall 5-2 record after, most recently, sweeping the Pacific Tigers on Jan. 21 and 22.

Freshman Taylor Sander and junior Robb Stowell lead the team with 90 and 89 kills, respectively. Stowell has recorded double-figure kills in every match he's played in this season. Senior Otavio Souza is hitting .483 on the season with teammate Futi Tavana contributing a .360 attacking percentage.

BYU opponents are averaging 8.4 kills per set against them compared to the 10.8 that the Cougars are averaging.

The Anteaters have one player who has already recorded double-digit kills

this season with 142 total from Carson Clark. They're averaging a .349 attacking percentage and 13 kills per set.

UC Irvine comes to Provo with a 4-4 overall record after winning their upset match against No. 6 Pepperdine on Jan. 22 in a five-set thriller.

Both games this weekend will be broadcast live on BYUtv and online at byutv.org/live. Gametracker is also available through the BYU men's volleyball schedule page.

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