Irvine Falls to the Cougars

No. 1 UC Irvine Falls At No. 6 BYU
Anteaters struggle offensively and snap seven match winning streak

April 2, 2009

Final Stats


Provo, Utah – No. 6 BYU upset No. 1 UC Irvine, 3-1 (30-24, 20-30, 30-18, 30-28) at Smith Fieldhouse Thursday.

The Anteaters, the fourth best hitting team in the country, hit a dismal .185 for the match, the worst offensive outing of the year. The nation’s best blocking team was also out-worked at the net with BYU topping UCI 15.5 to 11.5.

UCI snapped a seven match winning streak and goes to 19-4 overall and 14-3 in the MPSF while BYU improves to 15-9 on the year and 11-6 in league play.

Freshman Carson Clark was the only Anteater in double-figure kills, leading the team with 14. Sophomore middle blocker Kevin Wynne was impressive hitting .667 with six kills and no errors in nine swings and knocking down a match-high seven block assists. Outside hitters Cole Reinholm and Cory Yoder came off the bench to each add six kills apiece. Brent Asuka had a match-high 13 digs.

BYU was led by Andrew Stewart’s 15 kills followed by Kent Tuttle with 10 kills. Futi Tavana added nine kills, while Russell Lavaja led the Cougars with seven total blocks.

In the first set, BYU led 11-10 then outscored UCI, 6-3 with all three of the Anteaters’ points coming on Cougar service errors to extend the lead to 17-14. UCI would get no closer than three the rest of the way as BYU won the set 30-24. UCI hit just .154 to the Cougar’s .385 clip. BYU also out-blocked UCI 5-1.

UCI’s block came alive in the second set leading the Anteaters to a 30-20 victory. UCI out-blocked the Cougars 8-1, while Jordan DuFault ignited the Anteater offense with five kills. With the score tied at 11-11, UCI scored four unanswered, three of them on blocks to open a 15-11 advantage.

BYU went on an 8-0 run to put the Cougars up 14-5 and never looked back as they cruised to a 30-18 victory in the third set. The Anteaters hit a dismal .048, in the worst loss in a set this year.

The Cougars went on a 4-0 run and out-scored UCI 7-1 to open a 17-11 lead in the fourth set. UCI hung around scoring three straight to close within 29-28, but an Anteater service error sailed long to give BYU the 30-28 victory and match. UCI committed 10 service errors in the final set.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. PDT in Smith Fieldhouse.