PEEK AT THE WEEK:UC Irvine bids to rebound at BYU

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball will most likely enjoy turning the page of the calendar to February.

The Anteaters will want to forget the past, which included being swept by visiting Pepperdine Saturday. But, truth is, the road ahead doesn’t appear any easier.

UCI, which suffered its first loss Saturday, will visit BYU for back-to-back matches Friday and Saturday at the Cougars’ 5,000-seat Smith Fieldhouse.

To get ready, the Anteaters (9-1, 5-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will try to get back in sync on Tuesday when they play host to Princeton at 7 p.m. It will be in a smaller setting at Crawford Court, rather than the Bren Events Center.

BYU (8-0, 4-0) is expected to take the No. 1 ranking from UCI, which had it all season. The Cougars have swept six straight matches and have been pushed past three games only once, a four-game win over Cal Baptist.

Here’s a look at some more big games this week:

A win would put Coach Ryan Schachter’s Sea Kings in a tie for first place in the Pacific Coast League with the Hawks, who are undefeated in league. Laguna Hills dealt CdM its only PCL loss in the first round of league play.

Orange Coast (8-0 in the Orange Empire Conference) will try to sweep Fullerton (7-1) to maintain the conference lead. OCC won the first meeting, 74-70, at Fullerton on Jan. 10, when the Pirates overcame a four-point halftime deficit.

CdM and Newport Harbor are the top seeds in their pools for the 32-team tournament. Both teams will be looking to bounce back from losses last week. CdM lost to Montebello and Newport lost to Santa Margarita.

The Sea Kings will open the tournament against Capistrano Valley Thursday at 3 p.m. at CdM. If they win they’ll play again at 7.

The Sailors face Canyon at 3 p.m. at El Toro and if they win they will play again at 7.

The semifinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and the championship is at 3 p.m., all at Irvine High.

The Anteaters open the season with a family-affair story line. UCI’s Friday-night starter, Scott Gorgen, will duel twin brother Matt Gorgen, who is listed on the Golden Bears’ website as their leader out of the bullpen this season.

It’s the home opener for Coach John Altobelli’s Pirates, who lost two of three at Cuesta over the weekend.