PROVO, Utah – On night two of the two-match set, the No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Men's Volleyball team (6-4) fell at No. 6 BYU (8-4) on Saturday evening as the Cougars displayed their offensive prowess. Middle blocker Owen Birg was a bright spot for the Gauchos, hitting an efficient .500 (8-2-12) with two blocks.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Early in the first, some new faces to the lineup made an impact. Ben Coordt combined with every-match starter Birg on a block. Soon after, Owen Loncar—filling in for Geste Bianchi—earned his first kill. Unfortunately, after a 5-4 Gaucho lead, BYU went on an emphatic 14-1 run to make it 18-6 Cougars. The Gauchos hit -.227 in the first set, looking to regroup after the 25-11 BYU victory.
 
Middle blocker Josh Aruya and senior setter Jack Walmer checked in to start the second set as UC Santa Barbara looked for a spark. It initially worked, as the Gauchos began with a 9-6 lead. After BYU tied it, Walmer's sixth assist already—to Riggs Guy—made it 10-9 Gauchos. From there, the teams traded points for a bit before BYU pulled away to 16-13. The Gauchos responded by rattling off three in a row, re-tying the score. However, after a Santa Barbara timeout down 21-18, the teams traded consecutive points to a 25-22 BYU win.
 
BYU gifted the Gauchos points early in the third set, committing three service errors but holding a 6-4 lead. With a 10-6 deficit, Santa Barbara could not dig into the lead as the teams again traded consecutive points into the media timeout—now 15-10 Cougars. BYU won four of the next five points to really pull away, eventually coasting to a 25-18 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Owen Birg led the team in kills (8), hitting percentage (.500), points (9) and blocks (2). The redshirt junior continues his streak of playing in every set this season—the only Gaucho to do so.
• Setter Jack Walmer did a good job off the bench, dishing 12 assists in set two, part of 19 total in two sets.
• BYU's great offense was on display tonight. The hosts hit .381, .476, and .350 in the first, second, and third sets respectively, good for .403 on the night. Niko Hales hit a perfect 8-0-8 for a 1.000 hitting percentage in a small sample.

 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos look to regroup next weekend during their home-and-home with No. 10 Pepperdine on Friday and Saturday nights. The teams will play in the Thunderdome on Friday at 7 p.m. before heading down south to Malibu on Saturday, also at 7 p.m. Fans not attending can watch Friday's match on ESPN+ and Saturday's on B1G+, with live stats for both available at ucsbgauchos.com/MVBLiveStats.