Upset Loss to CS Northridge

NORTHRIDGE -- Cal State Northridge overpowered the BYU men's volleyball team for the first time since 1996, snapping BYU's 12-match win streak over the Matadors in a 30-26, 36-38, 26-30, 24-30 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest Saturday night in Northridge.

Out of only five BYU losses this season, four have occurred on the second night of the two-match series with each team. Third-ranked BYU now holds a 16-5 (14-4 MPSF) record on the season, while tenth-ranked Northridge improves to 15-9 (10-8 MPSF) on the year.

The Cougars scored 80 kills to the Matadors' 61 and out-blocked them 12.5 to 11.0, but once again the Cougars were hurt by errors, committing 30 attack and 24 service errors as a team.

"We played at a nice level in the first game and had four chances to get game point in the second, but we just couldn't get the swing at the end," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "We just kind of gave that one away, then kept going with the errors after that."

Rafael Paal led the Cougars on offense and defense, registering 21 kills, nine digs and five blocks.

Three other Cougars recorded double-digit kills in the match, including Jaime Mayol and Jonathan Alleman with 17 kills each. Libero Fernando Pessoa recorded 15 digs, just one short of tying the BYU record he holds for single-match digs.

"We outhit them through three games," Peterson said. "They did a nice job in the last game and we got frustrated. They got the momentum going and then it was too hard to stop them.

Northridge's Joe Nargi came back from an unimpressive performance Friday night to lead the Matadors with 22 kills while hitting .348 and added two aces. Overall the Matadors hit .316, just slightly above BYU's .301 as a team. Scott Arneson hit a .750 percent with seven kills for the Matadors.

Northridge, which was out-hit .455 to .324 in game one, outlasted BYU 38-36 in game two to gain the momentum the Matadors had not had in two nights. Despite hitting .188 as a team in game three, Northridge took advantage of six Cougar service errors to claim game three 30-26. The Matadors opened game four on a 12-6 run and never looked back and took the fourth and deciding game 30-24.

The Cougars will return home next week to play their final two home matches of the season on March 28 and 29 against fourth-ranked Long Beach State. Both matches will be held at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

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                              Volleyball Box Score
                        2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
   Brigham Young vs No. 10 CS Northridge (Mar 22, 2003 at Northridge, Calif.)
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4| 13   4  28  .321|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  4|  4   1  11  .273| 68|  1   7|  1|  7| 1  1  1|  3
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  4| 17   9  34  .235|  0|  0   3|  2|  6| 0  4  0|  0
 8  HYTE, David.........  4|  6   0   9  .667|  0|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  4  2|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4| 21   5  42  .381|  3|  1   4|  0|  9| 0  5  1|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  4| 17   8  37  .243|  1|  0   4|  0|  5| 0  3  0|  0
 4  HILLMAN, Joe........  1|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 13 LAYTON, Tim.........  1|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 14 Nielson, Rob........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1| 15| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  4|  0   3   3-1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 80  30 166  .301| 76|  2  24|  5| 48| 1 23  4|  3
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  3  33  .455   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  28  9  49  .388   Brigham Young....... 30 36 26 24  16-5, 14-4
   3  17  8  40  .225   No. 10 CS Northridge 26 38 30 30  15-9, 10-8
   4  17 10  44  .159
    No. 10 CS Northridge   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Nielsen, Nils.......  4| 10   5  34  .147|  1|  3   7|  0|  7| 1  2  1|  0
 3  Nargi, Joe..........  4| 22   6  46  .348|  2|  2   1|  1|  3| 0  3  0|  0
 4  Waite, Brian........  2|  1   4   6 -.500|  0|  0   3|  0|  0| 1  2  0|  0
 5  Douglas, Stan.......  4|  5   1   8  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 6  Tramblie, Ty........  4|  3   0   4  .750| 50|  0   0|  0| 12| 1  0  0|  1
 11 George, Tamer.......  4| 13   1  30  .400|  3|  0   1|  0|  4| 1  0  0|  0
 8  Hanson, Cary........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 12 English, Doug.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1| 13| 0  0  0|  0
 15 Allen, Billy........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 16 Arneson, Scott......  4|  7   1   8  .750|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0
 17 Pedraza, Sebastian..  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 61  18 136  .316| 56|  5  15|  2| 44| 4 14  1|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  7  37  .324   Site: Northridge, Calif. (The Matadome)
   2  19  4  40  .375   Date: Mar 22, 2003   Attend: 622   Time: 2:15
   3  11  5  32  .188   Referees: Marvin Hall, Tony Chan
   4  12  2  27  .370

PROVO -- The third-ranked BYU Cougars will take on tenth-ranked Cal State Northridge in two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches March 21 and 22 at the Matadome. CS Northridge is currently sixth in the MPSF with a 9-7 (14-8 overall) record and is one of three teams BYU (15-4, 13-3 MPSF) must beat to have a shot at the MPSF regular-season title.

"Northridge is a very good team," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "They can block really well, and their offense can really catch fire. They're good on both sides. But as long as we work hard and work through any errors, it will be a very competitive match."

This weekend marks the 26th meeting between the two teams, with BYU leading the series 14-11. The Cougars have won the last 11 matches with the Matadors.

The Cougars swept seventh-ranked UC Irvine in two matches last week, while the Matadors recorded wins against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara and non-conference opponent Quincy.

The Cougars will be traveling to Northridge without middle blocker Chris Gorny, who injured his hand in a match against Penn State earlier this month. Also questionable are outside hitter Luka Slabe, who has missed the past few matches because of a foot injury, and libero Shawn Olmstead, who injured his hand in practice Tuesday.

"We will need to step it up," Peterson said. "We'll see what the guys do this weekend. I just wish we were injury free."

Injuries or not, the pressure is on for BYU. The Cougars have four matches to play before facing conference leader and top-ranked Pepperdine in Malibu next month to end the regular season. Currently BYU is only 1.5 matches behind Pepperdine and will have the opportunity to snag the conference title if the upcoming matches go well.

Both matches with CS Northridge will be held at 7 p.m. in the Matadome. Live audio will be available through www.byucougars.com. The Cougars will return home next week to host Long Beach State in their last two home matches of the regular season on March 28 and 29.