No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball’s 18-match home win streak came to an end after a 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 18-25, 20-25) loss to No. 7 UC Irvine on Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

“It was a tough game tonight and UC Irvine deserved that win,” said BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. “They put a lot of pressure on us and we were out of system. Moving forward, we need to be more assertive tomorrow night.”

Despite the loss, BYU (7-2) reached a season-high in blocks with 11 in the match. Middle blocker Teon Taylor contributed a season-high seven blocks, with Trent Moser and Luke Benson each adding five. Leading the offense, Moser totaled 15 kills and an ace. The sophomore outside hitter also tallied a season-high in digs with eight, with his five blocks also notching a season-high.

The Anteaters (4-1) finished with a .291 hitting percentage, holding BYU to a season-low .268 clip. UC Irvine also dominated from the service line, totaling nine aces and holding BYU to two.

The Cougars took a quick 3-0 lead in Set 1 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.

The Cougars also came out with momentum in the beginning of Set 2, 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.

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.

The Anteaters continued to ride momentum gained into Set 4, 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.

The Cougars face the Anteaters again Saturday at 7 p.m. MST. The match will be televised on BYUtv and byutv.org.