Weekly Release • Feb. 28 - March 5, 2005 MEN’S VOLLEYBALL THREE TIME NATIONAL CHAMPIONS ‘99, ‘01, ‘04 Athletic Communications • 30 Smith Fieldhouse • Provo, Utah • 84602 • 801-422-8948 • fax 801-422-0633 BYU Record No. 6 BYU COUGARS (7-6, 2-4 MPSF) 2005: 9-6 overall, 4-4 conference at (4-2 home, 2-3 away, 3-1 neutral) All-time : 265-154 (.632) (since 1990) USC TROJANS (4-14, 1-10 MPSF) Coach Peterson: 61-17 at BYU (.782) Friday March 4, 7 p.m. 313-147 career (.680) Saturday March 5, 7 p.m. Lyon Center 2005 Schedule/Results Date Opp/Event Time/Results 1/5 vs. Lewis @ Outrigger Tournament W, 3-1 BYU Looks to Continue Winning Ways Against USC 1/6 vs. Penn State @ Outrigger Tournament W, 3-2 PROVO, Utah (March 1, 2005) – The BYU men’s volleyball team will have its sights set on continuing 1/7 vs. Hawai’i @ Outrigger Tournament W, 3-1 to move up in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings with two matches at the University of 1/14 CALIFORNIA BAPTIST L, 2-3 Southern California Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5. 1/15 CALIFORNIA BAPTIST W, 3-0 1/21 @ #10 UC Santa Barbara* L, 1-3 The Cougars took two from UC Irvine in Provo Feb. 25 and 26 to get back to .500 in the Federation at 4-4 1/22 @ #10 UC Santa Barbara* W, 3-0 and improve to 9-6 overall. The wins also helped BYU move up in the USA Today/CSTV Coaches Poll to No. 6 from its previous No. 7 ranking. 1/28 #1 UCLA* W, 3-1 1/29 #1 UCLA* L, 0-3 “Winning is always nice,” BYU coach Tom Peterson said. “It’s a good confidence boost to beat a talented 2/4 vs. Ball State @ Hall of Fame Classic W, 3-0 team like Irvine. We need to take these two from USC to accomplish our team goals and to continue mov- 2/5 vs. #6 Penn State @ Hall of Fame Classic L, 2-3 ing up in the MPSF standings so we can be among the top teams in the league at the end of the season.” 2/11 @ #2 Pepperdine* L, 1-3 The Cougars did manage to pick up some ground after defeating the Anteaters, improving their MPSF 2/12 @ #2 Pepperdine L, 0-3 record from 2-4 to 4-4 and jumping from tenth place to sixth. 2/25 #10 UC IRVINE W, 3-1 2/26 #10 UC IRVINE* W, 3-0 The USC Trojans have struggled thus far in 2005, standing at 4-14 overall and 1-10 in the MPSF. The team’s only league win came against the UC San Diego Tritons, who are winless this season. Despite the Trojan’s 3/4 @ USC* 7 p.m. struggles, they have shown promise, taking Pacific, Long Beach State and Hawai’i to five games. They are 3/5 @ USC* 7 p.m. coming off 3-0 losses to UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 23) and Cal State Northridge (Feb. 25). 3/11 @ Pacific* 7 p.m. 3/12 @ Pacific* 7 p.m. “They’re a scary team,” Peterson said. “They have some tall players that can cause some problems. They’re a talented team and we cannot afford to be up and down at all.” 3/18 HAWAI’I* 7 p.m. 3/19 HAWAI’I* 7 p.m. Although USC’s roster includes the return of all six 2004 starters, the Trojans are still very young. While 3/25 LONG BEACH STATE* 7 p.m. the roster includes four seniors, only two have seen significant playing time while one of those has split 3/26 LONG BEACH STATE* 7 p.m. time with a freshman. J.T. Gilmour has played 33 of 65 games at setter while freshman Jimmy Killian has 4/1 @ CS Northridge* 7 p.m. played in 38. Gilmour has seen more time recently, starting USC’s two matches last week. 4/2 @ CS Northridge* 7 p.m. Blake Tippett, the Trojan’s other senior starter, is leading the team with a 3.78 kills per game average 4/8 UC SAN DIEGO* 7 p.m. while contributing 1.44 digs. USC’s most efficient player has been Andrew Vernon, a 6-8 freshman middle 4/9 UC SAN DIEGO* 7 p.m. blocker. He is averaging 2.32 kills per game while hitting .406, best among starters. Three other players 4/15 @ Stanford* 7 p.m. average over two kills per game with Juan Figueroa at 2.94, Matt Mosko averaging 2.81 and Jose Grangeiro 2.64. Grangeiro is also a threat serving the ball and defensively, averaging team-highs in aces at 0.41 and 4/16 @ Stanford* 7 p.m. digs at 2.14. 4/23 MPSF First Round TBA 4/28 MPSF Semi-finals TBA The series between the Cougars and the Trojans goes to BYU, which owns a 16-7 advantage. The Cougars 4/30 MPSF Finals TBA have won the last six meetings and 11 of the last 12. In Los Angeles, BYU is 6-3. In 2004, the Cougars swept USC in the first match and came back from a 2-0 deficit to win in the second. * MPSF Opponents **HOME MATCHES IN CAPS BYU will look to build on its sweep of UC Irvine by adding two more MPSF wins. The Cougars went with a new 2005 lineup that was similar to that of 2004, with Victor Batista starting at middle blocker. Batista had started every match at outside hitter before making the switch. Against the Anteaters he hit .357 and Media Relations Information totaled nine blocks. Volleyball contact: Kyle Chilton Michael Burke was on fire over the weekend averaging 3.29 kills per game, hitting .636 and registering nine E-mail: [email protected] blocks. On Saturday he killed the winning point in every game. He is now hitting a team-best .496 in all Phone: (801) 422-8999 matches and .500 in MPSF play. Last season against USC, Burke had the best match of his career hitting the ball, collecting 12 kills on 13 attempts with no errors for a .923 percentage. www.byucougars.com BYU Men’s Volleyball WEEKLY NOTES: BYU Quick Facts Location: Provo, Utah 84602 Looking to Dominate Again Enrollment: 32,122 (Daytime) In 2004, the Cougars defeated the Trojans twice in the Smith Fieldhouse. Michael Burke was a Founded: Oct. 15, 1875, by The Church of Jesus Christ of dominant force, hitting .923 in the first win. In that game he had 12 kills on 13 attempts and did Latter-day Saints not record an error. The next night, in NYU’s comeback from a 2-0 deficit, Burke had 10 kills and Colors: Blue and White just one error on 16 attempts. Nickname: Cougars Moving on Up USA Today/CSTV Top 15 Divison I-II Coaches Poll #8 Mascot: Cosmo (the Cougar) With two wins over UC Irvine, the Cougars Affiliation: NCAA Division I moved back to the sixth spot in the USA Rank School Total Pts. Rec. Prev. Today/CSTV Top 15 Division I-II Coaches 1 UCLA (9) 230 15-2 1 Conference: Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Poll. BYU hopes to add two more wins and 2 Hawai’i (3) 221 11-2 3 Arena: Smith Fieldhouse (5,000) continue its climb back into the top four by 3 Pepperdine (4) 219 10-1 2 President: Cecil O. Samuelson defeating USC in both matches this week- 4 Penn State 193 14-2 4 end. The Cougars also made up ground in 5 UC Santa Barbara 177 9-7 6 Ticket Office Phone: (801) 422-BYU1 or the MPSF, moving up from the sixth spot to 6 BYU 157 9-6 7 1-800-322-BYU1 the tenth. 7-tie Long Beach State 130 9-7 5 Nations Best Fans 7-tie Stanford 130 7-9 9 Volleyball Staff: The Cougars continue to lead the nation in 9 Cal State Northridge 116 8-9 8 Head Coach: Tom Peterson (BYU, 1978) attendance after over 6,000 fans came out to 10 Pacific 93 11-8 11 BYU Record / Years: 61-17 / 3rd season see BYU take two matches from UC Irvine. 11 Loyola-Chicago 78 14-1 12 Office Phone: (801) 422-8291 Through six home matches, the Cougars are 12 UC Irvine 76 6-12 10 drawing an average of 4,191 fans per match. Career Record / Years: 313-147 / 13 years 13 George Mason 49 10-1 13 14 Ohio State 33 11-5 14 “We are hoping for another big crowd,” Assistant Coaches: 15 Lewis 18 8-6 15 Grayson DuBose (BYU, 1993) Coach Tom Peterson said. “It really does help to have all those screaming fans behind us.” Shawn Patchell (BYU, 1993) Volunteer Coach: While BYU is leading the nation, Hawai’i is not far behind, averaging 4,133 per match. Greg Jorgenson (Utah State, 2002) Near Errorless, Again Trainer: Blain Empey After hitting .594 against Pepperdine, Michael Burke was even better against UC Irvine. In two matches against the Anteaters, he hit .636 (23-2-33). On Friday, he had 13 kills on 20 attempts Volleyball Facts: while registering just two errors. He was even better on Saturday, getting 10 kills on 13 attempts 2004 Overall Record: 29-4 with no errors, good for a season-high .769 hitting percentage. Along with his high hitting per- centage, he averaged 3.29 kills per game and registered nine blocks.