SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 1-ranked BYU men's volleyball team picked up its 25th victory of the season on Saturday, defeating No. 16 UC Santa Barbara (9-14, 5-13) in three straight games to win its first-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season championship. With the victory, the Cougars will enter the MPSF Tournament as the top seed and have earned the right to host all three rounds of the tournament.

The Cougars used a balanced offensive attack to defeat the Gauchos, 15-7, 15-5, 15-6, led by All-American Ryan Millar who paced BYU with a match-high 17 kills on 22 swings (.591). Sophomore "Big Mac" Wilson hit a match-high 61 percent, connecting on 12 of 18 attempts. All-American Ossie Antonetti added 14 kills for the Cougars, while Steve Hinds chipped in 11 as the Cougars hit .468 for the match.

The BYU defense also came up huge, outblocking the Gaouchos 22 -11, including a match high eight blocks from Wilson. The Cougar defense held UCSB to just 23.8 hitting on the night, forcing 28 errors and collecting 33 digs, including a match high 10 digs from setter Hector Lebron.

Saturday's win over UC Santa Barbara marks the Cougars' sixth 3-0 victory in the last seven matches, totaling 17 on the season. The win also gives the Cougars their 12th straight road victory of the season, marking a perfect road record..

BYU (25-1, 18-1) will return to action in the first round of the MPSF Tournament, beginning Saturday, April 24. The Cougars will host an opponent yet to be determined the Smith Fieldhouse at 8 p.m. (MDT). Ticket information will be released as soon as it is available. The match scheduled to be televised live on KBYU.

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