PROVO -- Backed by a new BYU all-time record of 24.5 team blocks, the BYU men’s volleyball team (16-7, 12-6 MPSF) tallied its sixth-straight win with a 3-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara (10-13, 7-10 MPSF) Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

“This was the first time UCSB has been swept this year, so we were happy to get another win tonight,” said BYU head coach Shawn Patchell. “We did a great job tonight on our blocks and had multiple players step up into their respective roles to come out on top.”

Sophomore Futi Tavana tallied a new BYU all-time record with 15 total blocks, a season- and career-high. Junior Kevin Sagers came off the bench to hit lights out, posting 18 kills on 24 attempts with three errors. He tallied a season-high .625 hitting, tying his career-high. Senior setter Reed Chilton finished the night with 45-of-51 assists, adding two service aces to tie his career-high and set a new season-high.

Sophomore Robb Stowell ended the match with 15 kills on .407 hitting while senior Andrew Stewart had 11 kills.

After trading the first three points in the set one, the Gauchos tallied three two-point stints to put them up 9-5. After Stewart three-kill comeback to knot the score at 17, 18, and 19, the Cougars got down again. Even a 6-1 run ending at 27-all wasn’t enough for the Cougars to grab a shutout. UCSB went on to win the set 30-27.

“In set two I think we jumped on it early, having nice serving and getting them out of their systems,” said Patchell. “We did a great job blocking and the team responded very well to the changes we made.”

With Sagers off the bench for the second set, the Cougars posted an 8-1 run sparked by four kills from the junior. Unable to catch up, BYU put away the Gauchos 30-17 with a final kill from Stowell.

Nine team blocks in the third set carried the Cougars once again to victory, Tavana leading the way with six blocks. Starting the set out with a 6-1 run with kills from Tavana, Sagers and Stowell, the Cougars got out in front early. With back-to-back 4-0 runs, the Cougars found themselves with a nine-point lead at 16-7. Continuing to pull away, Chilton ended the set with his second service ace of the night at 30-18.

Trading points almost the entire fourth set, BYU posted a 4-0 run ending at 25-20 with two kills from middle blocker Russell Lavaja. The Gauchos tallied a 3-0 run to try and hold off the Cougars, but a kill from Stowell at match point gave the Cougars the set at 30-27 and the match at 3-1.

The Cougars will next travel to Long Beach State Thursday and Friday to take on the 49ers at 7 p.m. PT both nights.

Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
              #10 UC Santa Barbara vs #4 BYU (Mar 27, 2010 at BYU)
   UC Santa Barbara       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  Jeff Menzel.........  4| 23  13  54  .185|  2|  0   6|  0|  6| 0  2  2|  0
2  Grant Goswiller.....  3|  6   6  21  .000|  1|  0   3|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
8  Vince Devany........  4|  2   0   2 1.000| 50|  1   1|  0|  7| 0  1  1|  0
13 Dylan Davis.........  4|  5   2  11  .273|  0|  0   3|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  0
15 Jake Rosener........  3|  7   6  18  .056|  0|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
19 Scott Slaughter.....  4|  8   3  16  .312|  0|  0   1|  1|  1| 2  2  0|  0
12 Cullen Irons........  3|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
20 Andy McGuire........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  5|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0
22 Blaine Nielsen......  3|  7   5  15  .133|  0|  0   3|  2|  2| 0  0  1|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 59  35 139  .173| 58|  1  19|  4| 34| 2  6  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  20  9  40  .275   SET SCORES                1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  11  9  31  .065   UC Santa Barbara.... (1) 30 17 18 28  10-13, 7-10 MPSF
   3  10 10  31  .000   BYU................. (3) 27 30 30 30  16-7, 12-6 MPSF
   4  18  7  37  .297
   BYU                    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 SP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  CHILTON, Reed.......  4|  0   0   3  .000| 49|  2   1|  0|  1| 0  8  1|  0
5  LAVAJA, Russell.....  4|  9   3  16  .375|  0|  0   4|  0|  0| 0  6  0|  1
10 TAYLOR, Mat.........  1|  0   0   4  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0
13 STOWELL, Robb.......  4| 15   4  27  .407|  1|  0   3|  0|  7| 0  3  0|  0
15 STEWART, Andrew.....  4| 11   3  27  .296|  2|  1   1|  0|  7| 2  8  0|  0
17 TAVANA, Futi........  4|  5   1  11  .364|  0|  0   3|  1|  1| 1 14  1|  0
1  TUTTLE, Kent........  2|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
4  SILVA, Joel.........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0
7  ROBINSON, Jeff......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
11 SAGERS, Kevin.......  3| 18   3  24  .625|  0|  1   3|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  0
14 PEREZ, Yamil........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 58  15 114  .377| 55|  4  16|  1| 34| 3 43  2|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER SET                                TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 24.5
 Set   K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  4  31  .290   Site: BYU (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  2  27  .519   Date: Mar 27, 2010   Attend: 1394   Time: 2H 16M
   3  13  4  23  .391   Referees: Daphne Nelson, Maile Jewkes, Trent Mano
   4  16  5  33  .333

The No. 4 BYU men’s volleyball team (14-7, 10-6 MPSF) remains at home this week as it hosts No. 10 UC Santa Barbara (10-11, 7-8 MPSF) for a two-match series on Friday and Saturday nights in the Smith Fieldhouse. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. MT and be televised live on BYU-TV Friday and tape-delayed Saturday, airing at 10 p.m. MT.

The Cougars are tied with Hawai’i for four-place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings after a pair of wins over USC last week. Senior outside hitter Andrew Stewart earned MPSF Co-Player of the Week honors after combining for 43 kills over the two matches.

The Gauchos sit in ninth place in the conference standings after dropping a close five-set match at Pepperdine on March 13. They are led by Jeff Menzel who averages 5.41 kills per set.

Series Info

BYU holds a 23-18 series advantage over the Gauchos thanks mostly to a 10-match winning streak between 1998 and 2003. The Cougars have beaten the Gauchos in seven of the last eight meetings. In total, 24 of the 41 decisions between the two have ended in sweeps while only four times has the competition gone to five sets, including the two matchups in 2009.

Match coverage

Both matches will be broadcast live on BYU-TV. Fans may watch a live stream at www.byu.tv. Play-by-play will be provided by Jarom Jordan, with Steve Vail lending color analysis.

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

Coming Off...

BYU is coming off a weekend sweep of No. 7 USC last weekend in Provo. Senior outside hitter Andrew Stewart totaled 43 kills over the two matches, including a career-high 27 on Friday. Senior opposite Kent Tuttle also posted double-digit kills both nights, while sophomore middle blocker Russell Lavaja totaled 14 blocks on the weekend.