IRVINE, Calif. – Freshman opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez and No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball swept Concordia Irvine (25-21, 25-22, 25-15) Saturday afternoon at CU Arena.

“I'm happy with how the guys played today,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “Our block was particularly effective, and I thought we competed well as a team.”

Fernandez led the Cougars with 11 kills, six digs and five blocks. Price Jarman collected a season-high eight blocks and Erik Sikes had seven digs. Leo Durkin contributed 32 assists and eight digs while Brenden Sander added nine kills in the win.

BYU (10-4, 3-0 MPSF) took a 6-4 lead early on in the first set after an Andrew Lincoln kill. A 3-1 Cougar run, capped off by a Miki Jauhiainen and Sander block, then increased BYU’s advantage against Concordia Irvine (5-6, 1-3 MPSF) to four, 12-8. A Jarman kill followed, extending the lead at 17-11, forcing an Eagle timeout. The Cougars stayed ahead 20-13, but a 4-1 rally by Concordia Irvine brought it back within four, down 21-17. BYU stayed ahead, however, winning the set 25-21 on a Fernandez kill.  

The Eagles jumped out to an early 3-1 lead to start the second set. The Cougars scored the next four-straight points, though, to take a 5-3 edge. Back-to-back Concordia Irvine errors then pushed BYU ahead 10-7. The set remained close as a Sander ace kept the Cougars in the lead 13-12. The Eagles then inched ahead at 19-18 following an ace, but a Storm Fa’agata-Tufuga kill gave BYU the lead at 23-21. Fernandez then ended the set for the Cougars with a block, 25-22.

A pair of kills and an ace from Sander gave BYU a 7-3 advantage in the third set. A kill and block from Jarman then extended the lead to eight, 13-5. Concordia Irvine scored six of the next eight points to get back within four, down 15-11. A Fernandez kill made it 20-13 before a Fa’agata-Tufuga ace ended the set and match 25-15.

The Cougars stay on the road for their next match, traveling to face Stanford Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. PST. A live stream and live stats for the match can be found on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – No. 7 BYU men’s volleyball hits the road for the second-consecutive week, traveling to both No. 10 Grand Canyon and Concordia Irvine for the first time in program history on Thursday and Saturday.

No. 10 Grand Canyon

• BYU (8-4, 1-0 MPSF) will compete against Grand Canyon Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. MST at GCU Arena.
• This will be the first meeting all-time between the two schools.
• The Antelopes are off to an 11-3 (1-1 MPSF) start to the 2018 season, falling only to ranked opponents Hawai’i, UC Irvine and UCLA.
• This will be the only match of the year played at GCU Arena instead of Antelope Gym due to the expected turnout of BYU fans.

Concordia Irvine

• The Cougars will finish up the week playing at UC Arena Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. PST.
• This is just the second meeting all-time between the two schools.
• BYU won the only other matchup last season in Provo in three sets.
• The Eagles are 4-5 (0-2 MPSF) so far this year, falling last week to UCLA and Pepperdine in conference play, but they picked up a nonconference win against UC San Diego.

The Cougars’ first match against the Antelopes will be streamed live on YouTube. Live stats will be available for both matches on the BYU men’s volleyball schedule page.