LONG BEACH -- BYU’s No. 9 men’s volleyball team remained perfect on the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of IPFW on Saturday. The win marked the second in as many nights for the Cougars as they competed at the Long Beach State Active Ankle Tournament. With the victory BYU improves to 11-8 on the season.

Kevin Sagers knocked down a match-leading 11 kills, marking consecutive double-digit kill nights for the sophomore outside hitter. Redshirt freshman Futi Tavana added eight kills and a team-high seven blocks.

The Cougar defense held the Mastodons to a -0.01 attack percentage for the match, the lowest by a BYU opponent this season.

With the first set tied 11-11, Tavana gave BYU the lead with a kill. IPFW suffered three consecutive attack errors, further aiding the Cougars' momentum. Thirteen Mastodon errors, coupled with tough defensive play by BYU, resulted in a -.114 hitting percentage for IPFW in the first set. While continuing to pull away, another kill by Tavana gave BYU its largest lead of the set at 28-19. IPFW’s Ben Duckworth recorded back-to-back service aces, but the Mastodons eventually fell 30-23 after a kill by Mat Taylor.

The IPFW offense continued to struggle in the second set, recording 10 errors compared to the Cougars’ three. Never trailing after the 2-1 mark, BYU saw blocking help from Tavana and setter Yamil Perez. The Cougars went on a 9-2 run to go up 23-11, a run capped by back-to-back knock downs by Kevin Sagers and another from Alex Da Pron. Da Pron’s second kill of the night brought up set-point, a point BYU clinched after a bad set by the Mastodons.

It was all BYU early in the third set as it jumped out to an unanswered 6-0 lead. The Mastodons managed three consecutive blocks to claw back to within two points, but another pair of kills by Sagers gave the Cougars’ a comfortable lead. Sophomore Jeff Robinson subbed in with BYU leading 14-12, making an immediate impact with a kill and strong serves from the line. Opposite Kent Tuttle contributed three kills to give the Cougars an eight-point lead. Robinson and Lavaja both knocked down kills to clinch the 30-20 win and the sweep.

The Cougars return to Provo for a three-week home stay, first hosting MPSF foe Long Beach for two matches on March 20-21. Both matches will be played in the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. MT.

Volleyball Box Score
                     2009 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball
                IPFW vs BYU (Mar 14, 2009 at Long Beach, Calif.)
   IPFW                   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4  Mader, Dan..........  3|  0   0   0  .000| 17|  0   4|  0|  0| 1  2  2|  0|   2.0
6  Shank, Darryl.......  3| 10   4  26  .231|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  5  0|  0|  12.5
11 Kook, Oliver........  3|  3   6  18 -.167|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  4  0|  0|   5.0
13 Berg, Nathaniel.....  3|  3   1   5  .400|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  2  0|  0|   4.0
14 Duckworth, Ben......  3|  6   8  30 -.067|  0|  3   1|  2|  2| 0  1  0|  0|   9.5
16 Peterson, Phil......  2|  5   6  15 -.067|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  1|  0|   6.0
1  Morici, Mike........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
2  Pliske, Matt........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
5  Meyer, Jonathan.....  3|  1   4   6 -.500|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
8  Stewart, Corey......  1|  0   0   1  .000| 10|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   0.5
12 Matos, Ivan.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 28  29 101 -.010| 27|  4   8|  4| 15| 1 15  3|  0|  40.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                                           TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1   9 13  35 -.114  15-29  51%   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11 10  36  .028  13-30  43%   IPFW................ (0) 23 17 20  9-7
   3   8  6  30  .067  14-29  48%   BYU................. (3) 30 30 30  11-8
   BYU                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  2|  6   3  12  .250|  0|  1   2|  0|  2| 0  2  0|  0|   8.0
5  LAVAJA, Russell.....  3|  5   1   9  .444|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0|   8.0
11 SAGERS, Kevin.......  3| 11   4  17  .412|  0|  0   3|  2|  2| 0  0  0|  0|  11.0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........  2|  0   0   0  .000| 18|  0   2|  0|  1| 1  4  1|  0|   3.0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  2|  6   1  11  .455|  0|  0   0|  2|  5| 0  2  0|  0|   7.0
17 TAVANA, Futi........  3|  8   3  12  .417|  1|  1   1|  0|  1| 1  6  2|  0|  13.0
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
4  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  3|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
7  ROBINSON, Jeff......  1|  3   0   5  .600|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   3.0
8  KAULIAKAMOA, Joe....  2|  0   0   0  .000| 19|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  1  1|  0|   0.5
9  SOUZA, Otavio.......  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  2|  3   2   8  .125|  0|  1   0|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  0|   4.5
18 HIAPO, BJ...........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
23 DA PRON, Alex.......  2|  6   1   9  .556|  1|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0|   6.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 48  16  84  .381| 45|  4  12|  4| 32| 2 21  4|  0|  64.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                                           TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  15  6  28  .321  16-24  66%   Site: Long Beach, Calif. (Walter Pyramid)
   2  15  3  27  .444  13-17  76%   Date: Mar 14, 2009   Attend:     Time: 1:16
   3  18  7  29  .379  15-21  71%   Referees: Bob Oshita, Patsy Malta
                                    Triple blocks: IPFW 3, BYU 1
                                         1   2   3 Total
                        Tie scores       5   2   0     7
                        Lead changes     1   2   0     3

The No. 9 BYU men’s volleyball team (9-8, 7-5 MPSF) remains on the road this weekend as it competes in the Long Beach State Active Ankle Tournament. The Cougars will play No. 4 Penn State (15-1, 7-0 EIVA) at 7 p.m. PT Friday and IPFW (9-5, 1-3 MIVA) at 5 p.m. PT Saturday.

BYU is coming off two losses at No. 1 CSUN last weekend, but has won four of its last six matches.

The fourth-ranked Penn State men’s volleyball team pounded George Mason in three games (30-18, 30-25, 30-18) last Friday night at Rec Hall. With the win the Nittany Lions improved to 15-1 on the season, with their only loss being a 3-2 match against Loyola-Chicago on Feb. 20.

IPFW notched back-to-back wins against MPSF foe Pacific last weekend, pulling out 3-1 victories each night.

Series Information

BYU and Penn State have played 12 previous matches, with the series tied 6-6. BYU has won six of the last eight matches after dropping the first four the two teams played. Seven of the 12 times the Cougars and the Nittany Lions have played have been on neutral floors, with BYU holding a 5-2 advantage at neutral sites.

IPFW holds an all-time 4-3 advantage over the Cougars, one of only four teams holding a series lead over BYU. After the Cougars won the first matchup in 1990, the Mastodons claimed the next four. BYU has pulled out 3-1 wins in the past two meetings, back in 1996 and 2008.

Match Coverage

Live stats can be accessed by visiting BYU’s men’s volleyball schedule page at www.byucougars.com. The live stats can be launched by clicking on the “Live Stats” link for the appropriate game on the schedule page.

Coming Off...A Loss at No. 1 CSUN

The No. 8 BYU men’s volleyball team suffered its second consecutive sweep at the hands of No. 1 Cal State Northridge on Friday night, losing a competitive 30-28, 30-24, 30-28 match. With the loss the Cougars drop to 9-8 on the season and 7-5 in MPSF play. Sophomore outside hitter Kevin Sagers recorded a BYU-leading 12 kills, playing in only two sets. Fellow sophomore Alex Da Pron followed with 10 kills, marking his third night with double-digit kills in the last four for BYU.

Up Next

BYU returns home for a three-week stay, first hosting Long Beach State for two matches on March 20 & 21. Both matches will be in the Smith Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. MT.