PROVO -- The BYU men's volleyball team picked up its fifth straight victory, improving to 12-3, 9-3 with a 3-0 win over UC San Diego on Friday. The Cougars' victory also extends the nation's longest homecourt win streak to 38 matches. The fourth-ranked Cougars made quick work of Tritons, 15-5, 15-4, 15-6, to record the 80th three-game victory in BYU volleyball history. The Cougars have won 40 of their last 68 matches by a 3-0 tilt. Friday's victory also gives BYU a full three-match lead over UCLA for second place in the MPSF Mountain Division.

"I'm very pleased with our performance this evening," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "Sometimes it can be hard to get up for a match when the probability of winning is so high, but our guys came out with a great deal of intensity and executed very well."

11 different Cougars saw action during the match, including Cameron Van Tassell, Todd Steinert and Zach Robinson, who each recorded their first start of the season. BYU hit .467 on the night, including 59 kills on 107 swings with just nine errors. The Cougar defense held UC San Diego to just over 16 percent at the net, allowing 55 kills on 124 attempts, while forcing 35 errors. The Cougars also outblocked the Tritons, 9.5 to 4.0, including 17 BYU block assists. Sophomore Mike Wall led the Cougar effort, recording a team-leading 11 kills on 16 attempts without a single error (.688). Jaime Mayol and Casey Jennings, who saw action for the first time in three matches, each added 10 kills for the Cougars. Jennings had missed the last three matches with a sprained ankle. Steinert paced the BYU offense with 51 assists and added a match-high eight digs. Libero Brad Goldston chalked up seven digs, while Scott Bunker recorded a team-leading three blocks.

Donald Chen recorded a match-high 17 kills and for the Tritons, while teammates Zack Hite and Chris Mortimer added 15 and 10 kills, respectively.

In game one, the Cougars jumped out to an 8-2 lead before the Tritons came back to within four at 9-5 on a UCSD block. The BYU offense regrouped and went on a 6-0 run to close out the game, powered by Mayol, who recorded a game-high eight kills in a BYU, 15-5, win.

Game two was all BYU. While close at 3-2, the Cougars got big performance from Jennings, who had seven kills and Bunker, who was credited with six kills, led BYU on a 12-2 run to give the Cougars the, 15-4, win.

BYU claimed a 6-0 lead in game three before the Tritons could get on the board. Mortimer and Chen led a UCSD charge that would cut the BYU lead to 12-6, however the Cougar defense proved too dominating. BYU forced three straight Triton hitting errors to end the game, 15-6.

The Cougars will put their homecourt win streak on the line again tomorrow night, taking on MPSF foe San Diego State. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Short Box Score (Final)
          UC San Diego vs Brigham Young (Feb 25, 2000 at Provo, Utah)
  Brigham Young def. UC San Diego 15-5,15-4,15-6
 UC San Diego ( 4-9,  0-9) (Kills-aces-blocks) - CHEN, Donald 17-0-1;
 HITE, Zack 15-0-1; MORTIMER, Chris 10-1-0; YUN, Earnest 7-0-1; FLYNN,
 Kevin 4-0-3; HOVE, Jordan 1-0-1; PERRINE, Eric 1-0-1; Totals 55-1-4.0.
 (Assists) - HOVE, Jordan 39; PERRINE, Eric 12. (Dig leaders) - HOVE,
 Jordan 7; HITE, Zack 7
 Brigham Young (12-3,  9-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - WALL, Mike 11-0-2;
 MAYOL, Jaime 10-0-1; JENNINGS, Casey 10-0-1; ACOSTA, Joaquin 7-0-2;
 BUNKER, Scott 7-1-3; OLSEN, Matt 5-0-2; VANTASSELL, Cameron 5-1-2;
 ROBINSON, Zachary 3-0-1; WILSON, Mac 1-0-2; STEINERT, Todd 0-0-2;
 Totals 59-2-9.5. (Assists) - STEINERT, Todd 51. (Dig leaders) -
 STEINERT, Todd 8; GOLDSTON, Brad 7
  Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
  Date: Feb 25, 2000   Attend: 1831   Time: 1:35
  Referees: Tom Given, Les Calles, DJM;JDM;MA;ST;EK

This Week's Schedule

Match 14

No. 4 BYU vs. UC San Diego

Friday, Feb. 25 • 7 p.m. (MST)

Smith Fieldhouse • Provo, Utah

Match 15

No. 4 BYU vs. San Diego State

Saturday, Feb. 26 • 7 p.m. (MST)

Smith Fieldhouse • Provo, Utah

BYU will put its 37-match homecourt win streak on the line this weekend, playing host to a pair of MPSF matches in the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars will take on UC San Diego (4-8, 0-6) on Friday, Feb. 25 and San Diego State (1-10, 0-10) on Saturday, Feb. 26. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (MST).

The Rivalry

BYU vs. UC San Diego

BYU has posted a 7-0 record against the Tritons, dating back to March 16, 1993. Six of the last seven victories have been by a 3-0 margin. BYU is 3-0 against UCSD in Provo and has posted a 4-0 mark in San Diego.

BYU vs. San Diego State

The Cougars own an 8-2 lead that dates back to the 1990 season. Five of the Cougars' wins have been in Provo, while BYU has won three of five contests in San Diego. The two teams traded wins from 1990-1993, but BYU has reeled off six straight wins since Mar. 5, 1994.

Scouting This Week's Opponents

UC San Diego (3-8, 0-8)

The Tritons enter Friday's match with a 3-8 record and will have played LaVerne on Feb. 23 prior to their trip to Provo. UCSD has twice defeated UC Santa Cruz and posted a 3-0 victory over LaVerne on Feb. 1. Prior to the Feb. 23 match against LaVerne, the Tritons have lost three straight -- all 3-0 losses against MPSF opponents. In fact, UCSD has not won a single game in conference play. UCSD is hitting .227 at the net (555-269-1262) and is averaging 9.4 digs and 2.8 blocks per game.

San Diego State (1-9, 0-9)

San Diego State is currently 1-9 on the season and will have played at Long Beach State on Feb. 23 prior to traveling to Provo. The Aztecs' lone victory of the season came against UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 4 -- a 3-0 win in San Diego. SDSU is currently 0-9 in league play, including five, 0-3, losses and four, 1-3, defeats. The Aztecs are hitting .271 as a team (655-292-1338), while their opponents are hitting nearly .400 (.399). On defense, San Diego State is averaging 8.3 digs and 2.9 blocks per game.

Last Week (vs. USC)

The fifth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team came from behind to knock off top-ranked USC, 5-15, 15-7, 14-16, 17-15, 15-11, on Friday, Feb. 18, recording its 37th straight victory in the Smith Fieldhouse. With the victory the Cougars improved to 11-3, 8-3, on the season, while USC dropped to 10-2, 7-1. With the five-game thriller, the Cougars have taken No. 1 USC, No. 2 Long Beach State and No. 3 Pepperdine all to five-game matches throughout the season. The win marks the fourth straight victory over the Trojans, as the Cougars improve their all-time series record to 9-6 against USC. Mike Wall led BYU with 25 kills, while three other Cougars produced 20 or more kills, including Joaquin Acosta (23), Jaime Mayol (21) and Mac Wilson (20). Wilson added a match-high 10 blocks to record his second double-double in just three matches. Senior setter Chris Pitzak also produced a double-double, adding 96 assists and 11 digs. Pitzak's performance marked his third double-double of the season.

Three and Out

In the Cougars' 14 matches this season, seven have been decided in just three games. BYU twice blanked nationally-ranked Lewis in Provo on Jan. 14-15 and then handed Stanford a three-game sweep on Jan. 19, marking the second straight season the Cougars have beaten the Cardinal in three straight games. Most recently, BYU downed eight-ranked Loyola Marymount in back-to-back 3-0 wins. Since the 1998 season, BYU has won a total 39 (of 67) matches in three games, while the Cougars have only been defeated in three straight on four different occasions. The Cougars fell to third-ranked Pepperdine, 3-0, on Feb. 3, marking the first time since April 4, 1998 BYU had lost a match in three straight games. Before the loss, the streak reached 43 matches without a three-game defeat. During that time, the Cougars registered 26, 3-0 wins, including a BYU single-season record during its Championship run in 1999 with 21, 3-0 victories. In fact, the Cougars have lost only twice in the past 38 matches with both matches lasting five games. All-time, the Cougars are 79-57 in three-game matches. Following is a breakdown of the Cougars all-time record in three, four and five-game match.

Three-Games Four Games Five Games

79-57 (.581) 44-31 (.587) 29-26 (.527)

BYU Head Coach Carl McGown

Carl McGown is in his 11th season of NCAA competition at BYU with an overall record of 152-114 (.571), including a school record 30-1 mark last season. McGown picked up career win No. 150 on Feb. 11, 2000, defeating eighth-ranked Loyola Marymount, 3-0. Since 1997 McGown has led the Cougars to an amazing 77-16 (.828) record, averaging over 22 wins per season. The only coach in BYU men's volleyball history led the Cougars to their first-ever NCAA National Championship in 1999, posting a 30-1 overall record and an 18-1 mark in the Mountain Division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. McGown and BYU began NCAA competition in 1990 after winning three national club titles and finishing second in 1986 and 1989. He paced the Cougars to five top-10 finishes in the past six seasons, including No. 1 in 1999, No. 7 in 1998, No. 4 in 1997, No. 5 in 1995 and No. 2 in 1994. Following the 1999 season, McGown was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year. Over the past 10 seasons, McGown has coached nine different All-Americans, eight players who have gone on to professional careers and eight players who have represented the United States at various levels of international competition. In addition, three other former BYU players have represented their native countries in international competition. McGown served as head coach of the USA men's team from 1973-1976 and became a technical advisor to the National Team in 1980. Since then, McGown has coached in four different Olympic Games, including the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, the 1988 Games in Soul, the 1992 Games in Barcelona and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. McGown has also coached the National Team in seven different World Championships, including 1970, '74, '82, '86, '90, '94 and '99. McGown has also coached in the World University Games, as well as the Pan American Games.

Building A Winning Tradition

A ten-year effort to put BYU men's volleyball on the map was finally achieved during the 1999 season. On May 8, 1999, the Cougars overcame their only loss of the year, defeating Long Beach State, 3-0, to win the school's first-ever men's volleyball National Championship. The Cougars posted a 30-1 record, marking one of the greatest seasons in NCAA volleyball history. Leading up to the 1999 campaign, the Cougars had posted records of 16-6 in 1998 and 20-6 in 1997, but had been unable to reach the NCAA Final Four. Since the 1997 season, BYU has steadily built its reputation and has become the winningest NCAA Division-I program. Including the 2000 season, the Cougars have posted the nation's highest winning percentage, winning an amazing 82.8 percent of its matches. The Cougars are 77-16 since Jan. 11, 1997, marking the most wins by a Division-I program, except for UCLA, which has recorded an 84-19 (.816) clip during that span.

BYU Volleyball ... It's FANTASTIC!

Of all the matches around the country to hit the 1,000-attendance mark, BYU has played in 11 of those matches, marking the most appearances in front of 1,000 or more fans of any team in the nation. All eight of the Cougars' home matches have exceeded 1,000 fans, including last week's match against USC when 5,285 fans filled the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU is averaging 3,073 fans over eight matches. Last season BYU set an NCAA single-match attendance record on Feb. 19 with 14,156 fans in attendance against Hawai'i (at the Marriott Center). The Cougars recorded an all-time high 3,037.2 fans per match during the 1999 season, including a record 4,748.2 in Provo.

Home Court Quick Hits

• The Cougars have won a record 37 straight matches in the Smith Fieldhouse, dating back to a Mar. 28, 1997 loss to UCLA.

•BYU's current Smith Fieldhouse win streak ranks as the third all-time longest homecourt win streak in NCAA men's volleyball history. UCLA owns the top two win streaks (83, 42).

• The Cougars' current Smith Fieldhouse win streak is the longest active homecourt win streak in the nation.

• Since the beginning of the 1997 season, BYU has won 48 of its last 50 matches in Provo, including 34 of its last 35 matches. The Cougars have lost just three times in Provo over a span of 50 matches, posting an impressive .940 homecourt winning percentage.

• The Cougars' all-time record 23 consecutive "home" victories came to an end on March 19, 1999, when Long Beach State upset the Cougars, 2-3, in the Marriott Center. Since then, BYU has gone on to win 14 straight home matches -- all in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Double Your Pleasure

The Cougars have recorded 20 double-double performances on the season, led by junior middle Scott Bunker. The 6-5 middle blocker has produced a team-leading five double-double performances on the season, including a 14 kill, 10-block performance against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 11. On seven different occasions this season, BYU has had at least two players with double-doubles, including the Cougars' Jan. 21st performance at Hawai'i in which four BYU players registered double-double performances. (Matt Olsen, 12 kills, 15 blocks; Casey Jennings 21 kills, 13 digs; Jaime Mayol 22 kills, 10 digs; Joaquin Acosta 30 kills, 10 digs.) Following is a breakdown showing the different combinations in which the Cougars have registered each of their double-double performances:

Double-Double Performance Breakdown

Kills/Blocks 10

Kills/Digs 7

Assists/Blocks 1

Assists/Digs 2

Big Mac is Back

After missing the first 11 matches of the season, All-Conference performer Mac Wilson returned to the BYU lineup on Feb. 11 against eighth-ranked Loyola Marymount. With the Cougars trailing in game-one of the match, 4-7, Wison entered the game and immediately took control. Wilson went a perfect 6-for-6 at the net in game one and was credited with an ace that tied things up at 12-12. With the score knotted at 14-14, the 6-10 middle blocker recorded back-to-back blocks to complete the come-from-behind victory, 16-14. In the match, Wilson hit an amazing 16-of-22 with no errors (.727) and recorded a match-high 13 blocks. In only his third match since returning, Wilson produced his second double-double of the season, recording 20 kills and 10 blocks against top-ranked USC. Through 11 games, Wilson is hitting a stellar .474 and is averaging 2.72 blocks per game.

Cougar Quick Facts

• BYU has produced at least one All-American in nine of the past 10 seasons, including Ryan Millar, Ossie Antonetti and Hector Lebron who each earned All-America honors last season.

•The BYU defense has dominated its opponents at the net this season. The Cougars have out-blocked their opponents, 265.0 to 172.5. BYU is averaging 4.9 blocks per game, while its opponents are averaging just 3.2 blocks per game.

• The Cougars are 8-3 on the season when producing 65 or more kills in a match.

• BYU has posted a perfect 6-0 record when hitting .350 or better on the season.

• BYU is 9-1 when out-blocking and 5-0 when out-digging the opposition.

• BYU setter Chris Pitzak tallied his 2300th career assist against CSUN and later overtook Jesse Gant for third place on the Cougar career assist list. Pitzak, who ranks second in the nation, averaging 19.69 assists per game, has 2,924 career assists and needs just219 assists to pass current BYU All-American Hector Lebron for second place on BYU's all-time assist list . (Lebron is redshirting the 2000 season.)