BYU Eliminates Irvine in MPSF Volleyball

Brigham Young, the top-ranked team in the nation, defeated UC Irvine, 30-19, 32-34, 30-28, 30-18, in a first-round match at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball tournament Saturday night in Provo, Utah.

Mike Wall had 19 kills and seven blocks, Joaquin Acosta had 16 kills and eight blocks and Scott Bunker had 15 kills and 11 blocks for the host Cougars (21-3). BYU will host the tournament semifinals and finals Thursday and Saturday.

Erick Helenihi had 19 kills and six digs and Brenden Watumull had 10 kills and four blocks for Irvine (13-13), ranked seventh in the nation.

In nonconference baseball:

Chapman 6, Cal State Hayward 2--Jude Chavez had two doubles and two RBIs and Andrew Tisdale pitched seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts to get the win for visiting Chapman (28-7).

In Big West Conference softball:

Cal State Fullerton 8-6, UC Santa Barbara 0-0--Sophomore left-hander Jodie Cox pitched her 24th complete game and 10th shutout in the first game, won in five innings under the eight-run mercy rule. Jenny Topping and Yasmin Mossadeghi each hit two-run homers.

Topping walked twice and broke the single-season Big West record with 44. She passed Fresno State’s Gina LoPiccolo, who walked 43 times in 1991.

In the second game, Fullerton junior Christy Robitaille gave up three hits and earned her eighth win. She is the only undefeated pitcher in the conference.

Topping and Mossadeghi hit home runs and freshman Julie Watson added an RBI triple for Fullerton (40-11, 13-1) in the second game.

In the Golden State Athletic Conference:

Vanguard 4-3, Cal Baptist 0-0--Gina Liebengood struck out seven to get her 11th shutout and Cheri Smith had two hits and two RBIs in the first game for Vanguard (33-17, 12-8).

Jill Jessen and Jessica Thompson had run-scoring singles and Alysia Atchley pitched a five-hitter for the Lions in the second game.