PROVO -- The top-ranked BYU men's volleyball team improved to 13-1 on the season with a decisive 3-0 win over non-conference foe Quincy (11-4) on Friday, 30-21, 30-17, 32-30. The win marked the Cougars' 11 straight victory in the Smith Fieldhouse, while it also ended the Hawks' five-match win streak.

The Cougars hit .404 on the night, led by junior All-America candidate Mike Wall, who collected 14 kills on 25 swings. Senior All-American Scott Bunker and sophomore Luka Slabe each registered seven kills. Although the offensive seemed to be clicking early on, it was the BYU defensive which dominated the match. The Cougars outblocked the Hawks, 17.5 - 2.5, led by senior All-American Hector Lebron. The 6-foot-2 setter recorded a match-high eight blocks on the night, including seven block assists. Junior Matt Olsen and Bunker each had five blocks, while Wall tallied seven digs. The BYU defense held Quincy to just .099 at the net, allowing just 36 kills on 91 swings. The Cougars also forced 27 attack errors.

"I think Quincy is a very good team," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "For awhile tonight, I thought we played this very well. After game two, I think we lost our focus a little."

In game one, the Cougars climbed to a seven-point lead, 27-20, before QU's Felix Mann got the dump to cut the lead back to six. BYU then picked up three straight points, including back-to-back Olsen blocks to end the game, 30-21. In game two BYU jumped out to an early 10-4 lead. The Cougars continued to apply the pressure and increased their lead to 12 when Bunker capped off an amazing defensive play and was then rewarded with the kill, pushing BYU's lead to 26-14. The two teams traded serves, but Wall finally ended the game with his eighth kill, 30-17.

In game three, Quincy turned up the heat, forcing a 13-13 tie midway through the game. A Rob Steikuehler kill gave the Hawks their largest lead of the night, 22-19, but BYU came scraping back to tie things up at 26-26 on a Wall kill. Steikuehler knotted things up again at 29-29 before the two teams traded serves, ending with a BYU 31-30 lead when Paul Johnson committed the Hawks' seventh service error of the night. The Cougars' 6-foot-9 Mac Wilson led a trio of blockers to shut down a Quincy attack, capping the comeback, 32-30.

"Most human beings I know have a tendency to let down after playing at such a high level," McGown said. "I'm not sure what happened in game three, but I feel like we may have had a hard time staying focused. Quincy did a nice job and came out and played tough. Like I said, I really think they have a good team."

Early in game three, Lebron fed Olsen to record his 3,734th career assist and moved past Chris Pitzak for second on BYU's all-time assist list. Jason Watson (1991-94) holds the BYU career assist record with 4,649.

The Cougars will take the next week off before returning to action against their second straight non-conference opponent next Saturday. BYU will play host to Concordia (New York) in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, March 17. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. (MST). BYU and Concordia last met during the 1999 season -- a 3-0 Cougar victory in Puerto Rico.

Quincy vs Brigham Young (Mar. 9, 2001 at Provo, Utah)
    Quincy                 |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  BARRETTO, Fenando...  3|  1   3   8 -.250|  0|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 3  MANN, Felix.........  3|  1   2   4 -.250| 32|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  2  0|  1
 6  MARTIN, Pat.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 7  STEIKUEHLER, Rob....  3| 15  10  33  .152|  1|  1   3|  1|  3| 0  1  1|  0
 12 JOHNSON, Paul.......  3|  3   2   9  .111|  0|  0   5|  0|  1| 0  2  1|  0
 13 RUNHA, Daniel.......  3|  9   6  19  .158|  2|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 8  FEICHT, Jim.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 9  SJOSTROM, Stefan....  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 10 PIESCHEL, Jeff......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 11 MCCONNELL, Gordon...  1|  2   0   2 1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 16 TURCZYNSKI, Brian...  3|  5   4  15  .067|  0|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 36  27  91  .099| 35|  1  14|  3| 24| 0  5  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  11 10  31  .032   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  9  27  .074   Quincy.............. 21 17 30  11-4
   3  14  8  33  .182   Brigham Young....... 30 30 32  13-1
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WALL, Mike..........  3| 14   2  25  .480|  1|  2   4|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0
 3  ACOSTA, Joaquin.....  2|  5   0   8  .625|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0
 4  OLSEN, Matt.........  2|  4   0   8  .500|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0
 9  LEBRON, Hector......  3|  1   1   3  .000| 41|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  7  0|  2
 13 BUNKER, Scott.......  2|  7   0   9  .778|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 1  4  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  2|  7   4  16  .188|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 5  WILSON, Mac.........  2|  5   1  10  .400|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  4  1|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  2|  4   3  10  .100|  1|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  4  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 47  11  89  .404| 44|  3  15|  1| 23| 2 31  2|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 17.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  4  29  .414   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  2  26  .538   Date: Mar. 9, 2001   Attend: 1968   Time: 1:25
   3  15  5  34  .294   Referees: Les Calles, Tom Given

PROVO -- Returning to the Provo after a three-match road trip to California last week, the No. 1 ranked BYU men's volleyball team will take on Quincy (11-3) on Friday, March 9 in the Smith Fieldhouse. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m. (MST).

The Hawks enter Friday's contest riding a five match win streak, including a 3-1 win over Marycrest International on Tuesday. Quincy, a 1,200-student,private university in Quincy, Ill., currently ranks second in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association with an 8-2 league record. The Hawks are only two games behind league-leading Lewis University (6-0) in the MIVA and despite losing to Ohio State earlier in the season, maintain a sizeable lead over the Buckeyes (4-3) in the league standings.

The Hawks are led by middle blocker Fernando Barretto, who ranks 15th in the nation in hitting percentage, registering a .424 average on the season. The 6-foot-7 sophomore has recorded 111 kills on 200 swings, committing only 27 errors. Barretto also average a team-leading 1.21 blocks per game. 6-foot-8 senior Rob Steinkuehler ranks second in the nation, averaging 5.53 kills per game. The St. Louis, Mo., native has produced a team-leading 271 kills on 525 attempts throughout the season.

Breaking down the Hawks, the Cougars will face a lineup that features Barretto at 6-foot-7, Felix Mann, a 6-foot-3 setter, Steinkuehler at 6-foot-8, middle blocker Paul Johnson at 6-foot-10, as well as a host of other players over 6-foot-5.

"At every position, they have height," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "Combined with the fact we don't know very much about them, in terms of available scouting information, I am very concerned about Friday's match. We know they are a very tall and they are a good team with some nice wins this season. It is not going to be an easy battle for us by any means."

Despite losing at USC last week, the Cougars (12-1) retained 10-of-16 first-place votes in this week's USAToday/AVCA Coaches Top-15 poll to remain the nation's number-one ranked team -- thanks to a thrilling five-game victory at No. 2 Pepperdine and a decisive 3-1 win at No. 8 UC Santa Barbara last week. UCLA ranks second, while Pepperdine dropped to No. 3 and USC climbed to No. 4. With an 8-1 league record, BYU remains two games ahead of second-place UCLA (6-2) in the MPSF's West Region.

BYU leads the nation in overall hitting percentage, having produced a .394 team average on 1,282 swings. Junior Matt Olsen ranks second in the nation with a .538 hitting percentage, posting 88 kills on 143 attempts. All-American Scott Bunker ranks sixth with a .479 average. Junior Mike Wall ranks ninth nationally with a 4.73 kill-per-game average. The Santa Barbara, Calif., native has registered a team-leading 175 kills on the season. Bunker ranks sixth nationally, averaging 1.49 blocks per game, while Olsen ranks 17th with a 1.26 blocks-per-game average. Senior setter Hector Lebron has produced over 13 assists per game, ranking eighth in the nation.