MATCH STATS
- #4 UCI def. #3 BYU, 3-2 (25-16, 24-26, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13)
- UCI improves to 9-1; BYU falls to 5-3
- Irvine, California
- Attendance: 1637
- Box score
IRVINE, Calif. – For the second straight night, #4 UC Irvine knocked off #3 BYU, this time in an epic five-set back and forth battle. UCI Head Coach David Kniffin certainly enjoyed it.
“We love our matches with BYU. Here. There. It’s always great,” said Kniffin. “It’s a healthy rivalry. Maybe the best one we have. I feel like we bring out the best in each other.”
The Anteaters were led offensively by freshman outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller, who pounded a match- and career-high 19 kills Saturday evening, hitting .424 in the process. UCI’s balanced attack saw multiple double-digit kill efforts; Aaron Koubi had 17 kills (hitting a team-high .538), Karl Apfelbach added 15 kills with 6 blocks, and 7-footer Scott Stadick had 10 kills, hitting .529, while also blocking 6 balls. Setter Dante Chakravorti paced the efficient offense (.350) with 52 assists and posting the match’s only double-double by digging a match-high 13 balls. Libero David Parker added 10 digs.
BYU had their fair share of double-digit kill performers as well. The Cougars were led at the net by outside hitter Brenden Sander with 16 kills. He also added 6 digs, 2 blocks and a match-high 2 aces. Gabi Garcia Fernandez added 13 kills with 4 digs, 4 blocks and 2 aces. Rounding out the double-digit kills department was outside hitter Storm Fa’agata-Tufuga with 10. Setters Leo Durkin and Wil Stanley split time at the position, dishing out 30 and 18 assists, respectively.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of UC Irvine Athletics
IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine and BYU rarely seem to disappoint as the sixth-ranked Anteaters toppled the fifth-ranked Cougars, 3-2 (25-16, 24-26, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13) at the Bren Events Center Saturday.
“We love our matches with BYU. Here. There. It’s always great,” UCI head coach David Kniffin said. “It’s a healthy rivalry. Maybe the best one we have. I feel like we bring out the best in each other. I appreciated the composure of our young team. We are so far away from where we want to be. We have to get better, but I think that we are playing mature volleyball and that is promising.”
UCI used a balanced offensive attack and big block to improve to 9-1 overall.
Freshman outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller had another impressive performance with a career and match-high 19 kills, hitting .424. Senior Aaron Koubi hit .538, posting a season-high 17 kills. Karl Apfelbach totaled 15 kills, seven digs and matched his season-high with six total blocks. Sophomore Scott Stadick tied his season-high with 10 kills, while recording six total blocks. Setter Dante Chakravorti had a double-double with 52 set assists and a match-best 13 digs.
UCI bettered its season-best in blocks for the second consecutive night with 13.5 and out-dug the Cougars 38-27. UCI held the .350-.224 advantage in hitting percentage.
Brenden Sander paced BYU (5-3) with 16 kills, two aces and six digs. Gabi Garcia Fernande had 13 kills and two aces, while Storm Fa’agata-Tufug pitched in 10 kills in the loss.
After BYU logged the first point, UCI rattled-off the next six, which included two blocks. The Anteaters built an 11-4 lead on an Aaron Koubi kill before BYU mounted its only serious comeback scoring three straight to narrow the margin to 11-7. UCI would win the set 25-16, hitting .591 (15-2-22) and recording five blocks. The Cougars hit .083 (10-8-24).
BYU controlled the second set and led 20-14 before the Anteaters came storming back on a 5-0 run, the last two on Koubi kills, 20-19. The Cougars would hold set point 24-22 then another Koubi kill was followed by a BYU attack error to tie the set at 24 all. UCI would commit two consecutive kills to give BYU the 26-24 victory.
UCI made its move in the third set on kills by Koubi and Apfelbach and a pair of BYU errors, the last a solo block by Apfelbach, 6-2. Another three straight gave UCI the 11- 4 lead. A pair of Apfelbach kills plus a pair of BYU attack errors put UCI at set point 24-16. Two Cougars points delayed a Stadick kill for the 25-18 UCI win.
In the fourth set, a UCI attack error and an ace by Gabi Garcia Fernande put the Cougars out front 7-5. The Anteaters would knot the score at 9-9 and the teams would remain close until BYU used a UCI attack and blocking error to sneak in front 17-15. A Schneidmiller kill and a block by Apfelbach tied the set at 18-18. BYU would score the next three on a UCI service error, a Garcia Fernande kill and a triple block, 21-18 and never relinquish control winning 25-21 and forcing a fifth game.
A kill by Stadick was followed by two Koubi kills to give UCI an early 3-0 lead. Two more Koubi kills made it 6-2. BYU would edge to 8-6 before back-to-back kills by Schneidmiller pushed the advantage to 10-6. An ace by Brenden Sander brought the score to 11-10 then following a Koubi kill, BYU scored twice, the last on a block to tie the set at 12-12. After each team scored a point, UCI recorded back-to-back blocks to end the match, 15-13.
Courtesy of BYU Athletics
IRVINE, Calif. – No. 5 BYU men’s volleyball fell just short at No. 6 UC Irvine in five sets (25-16, 24-26, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13) Saturday night at the Bren Events Center.
“It took too long for us to get going tonight and UC Irvine capitalized,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “I liked our fight in the fifth set, and I’m proud of the guys for that.”
Brenden Sander led the Cougars with 16 kills to go with a team-high six digs while Gabi Garcia Fernandez added 13 kills. Leo Durkin contributed 30 assists and Wil Stanley had 18. Storm Fa’agata-Tufuga chipped in 10 kills and Price Jarman collected five blocks and seven kills.
UC Irvine (9-1) jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the decisive fifth set after six kills. After a BYU (5-3) timeout, kills by Sander and Miki Jauhiainen brought the Cougars within two, down 8-6. A Sander ace capped off a 4-1 BYU run to bring the Cougars within a point, trailing 11-10. A Fernandez kill evened the set at 13-all, but the Anteaters scored the next two points to close out the set and match 15-13.
Jarman picked up the first point of the first set for BYU, but UC Irvine scored the next six-straight points to go up 6-1. An ace and kill from Fernandez helped the Cougars on a 4-1 run to get back within four, trailing 11-7. The Anteaters countered with a 4-1 rally of their own to go back up by seven, 17-10, forcing a BYU timeout along the way. The Cougars couldn’t find a way to slow down UC Irvine’s offense as the Anteaters picked up a 25-16 set win.
A block from Andrew Lincoln and Jarman helped BYU take a 7-6 advantage to begin the second set. A 4-1 Cougar run ensued, allowing BYU to take a 13-11 lead following a Sander kill. A block from Fernandez and Jauhiainen pushed the lead to three, 17-14, forcing a timeout from UC Irvine. Another Cougar block made it 20-14, but the Anteaters scored five-straight to get back within one, down 20-19. Back-to-back kills by Fa’agata-Tufuga increased BYU’s lead back to three, 23-20, and two errors from UC Irvine gave the Cougars the set 26-24.
The Anteaters used an 11-2 run to start the third set to go up 11-4. Two kills from Fa’agata-Tufuga then pushed BYU back within six, trailing 16-10. UC Irvine attack errors helped the Cougars get within four, down 18-14, but that was as close as BYU would get as the Anteaters took the set 25-18.
An ace from Fernandez helped the Cougars go up 7-5 in the fourth set. A Jarman and Fa’agata-Tufuga block helped BYU keep its lead at 14-12, and a Fernandez kill made it 22-19. UC Irvine scored the next two points to make it a one-point set, 22-21, but the Cougars followed with three points, including a Jauhiainen ace, to secure the fourth-set win 25-21, sending the match to the decisive fifth set.
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