No. 5 BYU men’s volleyball faced its toughest opponent this season on No. 2 UC Irvine’s home court in Irvine, California.
This proved challenging for the Cougars this week in the NCAA’s first top-five matchup of the season.
Wednesday’s match was a slugfest as BYU and UC Irvine battled back and forth, trading off set wins between each other through the first four sets. The Cougars ultimately came up short, losing a tough fifth set 15-12 to suffer their first loss of the season.
Final from Irvine pic.twitter.com/qwPvZRJYSu
— BYU Men’s Volleyball (@BYUmvolleyball) January 23, 2025
BYU was led by Keoni Thiim with a team-high 18 kills and four aces and Teilon-Jonathan Tafuga had a career-high 15 kills in the loss on Wednesday.
The furious fight on Wednesday caused the Cougars to fall flat on Friday, as UC Irvine took advantage of their home court and had its way all night. BYU was swept for the first time this season and the first time since March 9, 2024, against Stanford.
Final from Irvine pic.twitter.com/8M72xlyng7
— BYU Men’s Volleyball (@BYUmvolleyball) January 25, 2025
The Anteaters kept the BYU defense guessing all night with a plethora of serves and movements. Led by seniors Nolan Flexen and Hilir Henno, who had 27 combined kills, hit nearly .400 on the night that fed UC Irvine’s firepower.
The Cougars had a welcome sight with senior Miks Ramanis returning to the floor for the first time since BYU’s home opener on Jan. 3. Luke Benson did not play in Friday’s match.
BYU struggled to hit the ball well in both games and the Anteaters made the Cougars pay by outhitting them by 32%. BYU was held to a .128 hitting percentage on Friday, the lowest mark for the Cougars this season.
The back-to-back losses this week marks the first time since March 2023 that BYU has lost two straight matches on the road.
The Cougars will prepare to host No. 4 Hawaii on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.