LOS -- A balanced attack and a strong block performance led No. 3 BYU to a four-set victory over No. 12 USC 30-26, 30-24, 28-30 and 30-21.

The Cougars (12-4, 8-3 MPSF) had four players reach double-digits in kills led by Robby Stowell's 18 on a .400 hitting percentage. Rodnei Santos added a career high in kills with 11 and block assists with seven while swinging at a team-best .714 clip. Russell Holmes also had an efficient night from the middle, collecting eight kills while hitting .438.

"Our middles played really well tonight," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "They were efficient offensively and held both of USC's middles under .300."

USC jumped ahead early in the first set, building three-point leads on two occasions at 5-2 and 8-5. The Cougars came back with a run to take their first lead since 1-0 at 12-11. The Trojans quickly responded scoring three in a row to take the advantage. USC held a 20-18 lead when BYU came back with three points in a row to take a one-point advantage. The Cougars extended their lead to three at 24-21 with a Santos kill. BYU got hot when it mattered as the Cougars outscored the Trojans 6-5 down the stretch to win the set 30-26. Russell Holmes drove down the game-winner. BYU won despite hitting just .200. The Cougars held USC to just a .108 hitting percentage.

The second set started with BYU jumping to a quick 3-0 lead and forcing a USC time out. The Trojans went on a 7-4 run to tie the game at 7. The Cougars came back with a 6-2 run to jump ahead by four at 13-9. Holmes and Stowell knocked down a block to cap the run. BYU kept the pressure on, extending its lead to a 23-15 advantage. The Cougars attack improved in the second set with BYU hitting at a .379 mark in the game.

Both teams came out swinging hot in the third set. BYU got a pair of points to take a 10-9 lead as both teams traded side outs in the early going. With USC leading 14-13, the Cougars scored three consecutive points to take a 16-14 lead. The Trojans turned a 20-18 deficit into a 22-20 advantage on the heels of a 4-0 run. USC extended its lead to three on back-to-back points. BYU came back with three consecutive points to tie the game at 26. The Trojans finished the set on a 4-2 run to win the game even with the Cougars out-hitting USC .652 to .483.

BYU came out on fire in the fourth, jumping to an early 7-2 lead and forcing a USC time out. The Cougars picked up kills on four of their first five swings while holding the Trojans without a kill in their first five attempts. Moving forward, BYU followed its 7-2 start with a 5-1 run to jump out to a match-high, nine-point advantage. USC put together a run to cut the Cougars lead to 15-10. BYU responded with another run to push its lead back to seven. Later, a Stowell kill gave the Cougars a commanding 24-15 lead. BYU took the match on a USC hitting error.

The two teams play again at the Galen Center Saturday evening at 7 p.m. (PST)

"We need to come out with more energy tomorrow night," Patchell said. "We can improve on a lot."

Volleyball Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
BYU Cougars vs USC (Mar 02, 2007 at USC)
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  CALA, Yosleyder.....  4| 13   4  27  .333|  0|  3   6|  0|  7| 0  4  0|  0
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  4| 11   1  14  .714|  1|  0   1|  1|  2| 0  7  1|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  4| 10   5  25  .200|  3|  0   0|  0|  3| 2  1  1|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  4|  8   1  16  .438|  1|  0   5|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  4| 18   6  30  .400|  0|  0   3|  0|  7| 0  5  1|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  4|  1   1   2  .000| 53|  2   7|  0|  6| 0  0  1|  1
 5  COX, Scott..........  4|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 17 STEWART, Andrew.....  2|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 62  19 117  .368| 59|  5  25|  3| 32| 2 20  4|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  7  35  .200   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  16  5  31  .355   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 28 30  12-4, 8-3 MPSF
   3  16  1  23  .652   USC................. (1) 26 24 30 21  6-10, 5-8 MPSF
   4  16  6  28  .357
    USC                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  C.J. Schellenberg...  2|  2   6  10 -.400|  1|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 6  Matt Pavlovich......  4|  8   8  22  .000|  1|  0   5|  2|  6| 1  0  2|  0
 8  Andrew Vernon.......  4|  9   4  18  .278|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 2  1  0|  0
 13 Juan Figueroa.......  4| 21   7  41  .341|  1|  0   6|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0
 18 Jimmy Killian.......  3|  1   0   2  .500| 29|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 19 Hunter Current......  4|  5   5  15  .000|  1|  1   3|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 7  Luke Morris.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1| 11| 0  0  0|  0
 9  Jonathan Hackett....  3|  6   0  11  .545|  0|  1   2|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 11 Gio Altamura........  3|  1   0   1 1.000| 14|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  1|  0
 20 Matt Anderson.......  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 53  30 121  .190| 48|  3  20|  5| 30| 3  6  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14 10  37  .108   Site: USC (Galen Center)
   2  11  7  27  .148   Date: Mar 02, 2007   Attend: 450   Time: 2:00
   3  19  5  29  .483   Referees: Joe Sloat, Greg Leung
   4   9  8  28  .036

PROVO -- After taking care of business at home by sweeping Hawaii in two straight matches last weekend, BYU heads to Southern California for three consecutive road trips starting this weekend against USC. The Cougars will compete in Southern California for most of the month of March, taking on UCSB next week and Cal. State Northridge in three weeks. BYU will also have a bye week in March between the UCSB and Northridge matches. The Cougars next home matches will be Mar. 29-30 against Long Beach State.

SERIES INFORMATION

BYU has dominated the overall series with USC. The Cougars own a 20-7 overall record since BYU's first Division I season in 1990. Overall, the Cougars have won 20 out of the last 23. BYU's current 10-match winning streak over the Trojans is its second longest current winning streak (UC San Diego, 20). The last USC win was Feb. 28, 2001 in Los Angeles. BYU has won 15 of the last 16 in the series.

Along with its current 10-match winning streak, the Cougars own two separate five match winning runs. The Trojans own a four-match winning streak (after winning the first four matches between the two teams) and a two-match run.

MATCH COVERAGE

Every home match will have a free live stats feed option. The live stats feed can be accessed by visiting the men's volleyball schedule page at www.byucougars.com. The direct link is http://www.byucougars.com/Schedule.jsp?SP=201&YR=2006. The live stats can be launched by clicking on the "Live Stats" link for the appropriate game.

Also available for the second season in a row is a live video feed through CSTV All-Access. Users must subscribe to this service. More information, such as cost and direct links to the CSTV All-Access page can be found by visiting the schedule page and clicking on the "Live Video" link. USC will have live video and audio coverage of this weekend's matches. Links can be found on BYU's schedule page. The link is listed above.

LUCKY NUMBER .300

BYU is a perfect 11-0 this season in matches that they hit over .300. Conversely, the Cougars are 0-4 in matches where they hit under .300.

SEASON'S TWO BEST KILL PERFORMANCES...

The two weekend matches against Hawaii showcased BYU's two best individual kill efforts...all in the same night. On Friday evening, Yosleyder Cala set a team season high with 26 kills on .639 hitting. Not far behind him was Ivan Perez, who notched the second best team kill total with 23 while hitting .529.

HOLMES RECORD WATCH

Russell Holmes created a wall in the Saturday evening Hawaii match. In the sweep, Holmes knocked down seven block assists and a career high four block solos in just three sets. The four block solos ranks second alone all-time in BYU history. The Cougars record for block solos is five by Kevin Hambly on Feb. 29, 1992 against Ball State.

Holmes is currently second in the nation with 17 block solos. He is just five block solos away from tying the record of 22 held by co-head coach Ryan Millar.