NORTHRIDGE -- After slipping in the first set, No. 3 BYU came back to win the next three, taking a 27-30, 32-30, 30-28, 30-28 victory over No. 10 Cal-State Northridge.

The Cougars (16-5, 12-4 MPSF) got revenge just one night after losing to the Matadors in four games. BYU got a career performance from junior Trent Soresnsen, who knocked down 16 kills while committing no errors for an .842 hitting performance. The outside hitters got into the action as Ivan Perez led the way with 21 kills and a .389 hitting percentage. Perez was also all over the floor as he had a team-best 12 digs. Russell Holmes led the Cougars blocking with four total blocks, including two solos.

CSUN started the match like it ended Friday's by winning the tightly contested first set. With the score tied at eight, the Matadors went on a 4-1 run to build a 12-9 lead. The Cougars rallied to tie the score at 14 only to have Northridge respond by taking a 20-17 advantage. The Matadors maintained their lead and won the game on a Dan Rhodes block.

BYU also fell behind early in the second set as CSUN jumped to an early 10-8 lead. The Cougars came back with a 3-1 run behind a pair of kills by Perez and a kill by Sorensen. BYU maintained the advantage as the teams traded side outs for several points. On three separate occasions the Cougars scored consecutive points only to be matched by consecutive Northridge points as the game remained tied at 25. BYU looked to run away with the set as it reeled off a 4-2 run to give it a game point at 29-27. The Matadors came back to tie the game at 29 before BYU finished the set on a 3-1 run. Robby Stowell and Perez put down back-to-back kills to give the Cougars the game.

The momentum carried over into the fourth game for BYU as the Cougars jumped out to a big lead. Consecutive kills by Robby Stowell and Yosleyder Cala gave BYU an early 5-1 advantage. The Cougars maintained a multiple-point advantage throughout the set, extending its lead to as many as eight points on several occasions. Northridge fought back at the end of the game, cutting BYU's lead to 27-26 on a Rhodes kill. But BYU out-scored CSUN, 3-2 to finish the game with a Perez kill.

The decisive fourth set proved to be an up-and-down affair throughout. Both teams managed early two-point leads, but neither was able to extend its advantage. With the Matadors leading 23-22, the Cougars reeled off four consecutive points to take a 26-23 lead. BYU got a block from Cala and Sorensen and a Cala kill to keep its run going. BYU held onto its lead as it traded side outs down the stretch with Perez finishing Northridge off with a kill. Perez had all three game-winners on the evening.

The Cougars now return home next weekend as they host Long Beach State in a pair of matches at the Smith Fieldhouse. The matches are scheduled for Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. (MDT) evenings instead of Friday and Saturday due to LDS General Conference on Saturday.

#3 BYU Cougars vs #10 Cal State Northridge
                      (Mar 24, 2007 at Northridge, Calif.)
    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| 21  12  42  .214|  0|  1   4|  0|  9| 0  1  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  4| 16   0  19  .842|  0|  0   7|  0|  4| 0  2  1|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  4| 21   7  36  .389|  1|  0   2|  2| 12| 0  1  0|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  4|  9   4  19  .263|  2|  0   4|  0|  2| 2  2  1|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  4| 11   7  30  .133|  0|  0   1|  0|  6| 0  2  0|  1
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  4|  1   2   3 -.333| 71|  0   3|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
 5  COX, Scott..........  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0| 10| 0  0  0|  0
 17 STEWART, Andrew.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 79  33 150  .307| 74|  1  21|  2| 47| 2  8  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19 11  38  .211   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  21  6  38  .395   BYU Cougars......... (3) 27 32 30 30  16-5, 12-4
   3  19 10  39  .231   Cal State Northridge (1) 30 30 28 28  14-12, 8-9
   4  20  6  35  .400
    Cal State Northridge   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  Kneubuhl, Isaac.....  4|  6   4  20  .100|  0|  0   4|  1|  8| 0  1  0|  0
 2  Pedersen, Sean......  4|  0   2   2-1.000| 47|  0   4|  0|  3| 1  2  1|  1
 3  Lischer, James......  4| 15   3  23  .522|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  3  1|  1
 5  Waite, Kyle.........  4|  1   0   5  .200|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0
 7  Rhodes, Dan.........  4| 20   3  43  .395|  0|  0   5|  0|  3| 1  1  1|  0
 14 Vance, Eric.........  4| 16   4  33  .364|  0|  2   3|  0|  6| 0  2  0|  0
 6  Carter, Sean........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 9  Bluemling, Travis...  2|  0   0   0  .000|  9|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  1  0|  0
 10 McKniff, Kevin......  2|  1   0   4  .250|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 1  2  0|  0
 11 Gaudino, Mike.......  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0
 15 Adams, Ryan.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 59  17 131  .321| 58|  2  19|  1| 34| 5 18  3|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  2  33  .424   Site: Northridge, Calif. (The Matadome)
   2  16  5  31  .355   Date: Mar 24, 2007   Attend: 708   Time: 2:12
   3  13  7  36  .167   Referees: Marvin Hall, Rick Olmstead
   4  14  3  31  .355

PROVO -- After spending most of the month of March playing in Southern California, BYU wraps up its six-match road swing as the Cougars head to Northridge to play Cal. State Northridge in a pair of matches this weekend. Thus far, BYU has won each of its four road matches on the road trip including a pair of sweeps at UC Santa Barbara two weeks ago. The Cougars have won six straight matches overall.

SERIES INFORMATION

The BYU-Cal. State Northridge series has been one of dominating streaks. The Cougars currently hold a 20-14 series advantage over the Matadors including an 8-7 record in Northridge. The series began with CSUN dominating the Cougars over the first five years of BYU's competition at the NCAA level. The Matadors won the first seven matches the two teams played and 10 of the first 13 overall.

In 1997, the series advantage began to tilt BYU's way. Beginning in the 1997 season, BYU won 12 consecutivbe matches that carried over until CS Northridge beat BYU on Mar. 22, 2003. Last season the Cougars swept the two matches over the Matadores for the first time since the 2002 season.

LUCKY NUMBER .300

BYU is a perfect 15-0 this season in matches that they hit over .300. Conversely, the Cougars are 0-4 in matches where they hit under .300.

BYU IN THE MPSF TOURNAMENT

Since 1993, BYU has qualified for the MPSF postseason tournament in 12 of 13 seasons including nine 10 consecutive trips. The Cougars all-time recording the MPSF tournament is 15-10. BYU has won the MPSF tournament three times and hold an 8-5 record in the first round, 4-4 record in the semifinals and a perfect 3-0 record in tournament finals. BYU has lost in the first round of the MPSF tourney in two consecutive seasons including a 3-1 setback to Long Beach State last year. The Cougars won consecutive MPSF tournament championships in 2003 and 2004.

EVERY THREE YEARS...

Since BYU's first national championship in 1999, the Cougars have won the NCAA tournament a total of three times (1999, 2001 and 2004). Since the '99 season, BYU has won the NCAA Championship at least once every three years.

BRING OUT THE BROOMS

With the Cougars sweep over Loyola-Chicage Jan. 27, it marked a record sixth consecutive match BYU won in straight sets. Previously the record was in 2001 when the Cougars swept five consecutive matches. The record for sweeps in a season was the 1999, 30-1 National Championship squad that swept 20 matches. With the Cougars sweep over UC Irvine Feb. 2, they upped their record to seven consecutive sweeps. BYU is currently on a three-match streak of sweeps and have swept four of its last six.

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT

BYU's hitting performance in Saturday evening's three-set sweep of USC ranks third all-time in BYU rally scoring history. The Cougars hit .571 (61-9-91) as a team. BYU was led by Yosleyder Cala's .905 (19-0-21) hitting percentage, while Robby Stowell hit .727 (17-1-22). Russell Holmes and Ivan Perez also hit over .600 on the evening. The Cougars all-time best hitting performance was also against USC on Jan. 31, 2001 when BYU hit .655 (42-4-48).

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.

ALL OVER THE PLACE

In BYU's three-set sweep over UC Santa Barbara Mar. 10, the Cougars swung at a .495 mark for the day. Four of BYU's starting five attackers swung at a .500 mark or better. Yosleyder Cala, BYU's team leader in hitting percentage was the only not to hit at least .500 and he hit over .300.