First Home Matches This Friday and Saturday

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.

Be a part of the BYU men's volleyball team by joining their Facebook group. Click HERE to visit the page.