Set One
The Cougars took a quick 3-0 lead with a kill from Benson and two UC Irvine errors. After the Anteaters went on a three-point run, Miks Ramanis helped the Cougars bring back their momentum, bringing the score to 8-5.
Battling from there, the Anteaters secured three quick kills to come within a point of the Cougars. The Anteaters would then grab their first lead of the set at 18-17. When the score was tied at 22-22, BYU entered Jon Stanley to the service line. Stanley would then serve the next three points to win the first set 25-22.
Set Two
The Cougars also came out with momentum in the beginning of set two, with kills by Moser and Gavin Julien to take the score to 4-2. After a tie at 9-9, neither team would be able to score two points in a row until back-to-back kills by Hilir Henno took the score to 15-14 in favor of the Anteaters. Henno would go on to lead all players in kills with 20 on a .500 hitting percentage.
The seesaw continued all the way to the end as the set went into extra points, and the Anteaters grabbed the win off a kill by Nolan Flexen and BYU error, winning 25-27 and splitting the match at 1-1.
The second set saw 15 tied scores while the Cougars outhit the Anteaters .545 compared to .485.
Set Three
After dropping the first point in the third set, the Cougars went on a 4-0 run courtesy of kills from Moser and Benson along with back-to-back BYU blocks. The Anteaters combatted with two aces from Conner Dahm, with two BYU service errors tying the set at four points.
Junior middle-blocker Taylor secured two kills, which the Anteaters matched to continue the tie set at 6-6. An overpass from the Anteaters gave Ramanis a kill, which tied the set at eight. After a 3-0 run by UC Irvine, the Cougars took a timeout down 12-9. UC Irvine caused BYU to burn another timeout at 19-14, with BYU trailing by five. The Anteaters would not drop their lead the rest of the set, winning 25-18 after a kill by Flexen and forcing the Cougars into a must-win fourth set.
UC Irvine's dominant offense held BYU to a .111 hitting percentage in the third frame.
Set Four
The Anteaters continued to ride the momentum gained in set three, and quickly went up 4-1. Benson tallied two blocks, with the aid of Kupono Browne and Taylor, to tie the set up at four points. A a 3-0 run for UC Irvine, consisting of a kill and two aces, the score reached 8-5, benefitting the Anteaters.
BYU's first ace of the night came in the fourth set as Moser helped the Cougars come within two at 12-14. After a BYU timeout at 21-16, now down five, an ace from Stanley took the score to 21-18. UC Irvine would lead the entirety of the fourth set, and gained four kills in the last five points, winning 25-20 and securing a 3-1 victory.
Up Next
The Cougars face the Anteaters again tomorrow night at 7 p.m. MST. The match will be televised on BYUtv and byutv.org.
