Cougars Claw Tigers

PROVO -- The sixth-ranked BYU men's volleyball team overpowered No. 15 Pacific, 3-1 (30-24, 30-28, 25, 30, 30-28), Friday night in the Smith Fieldhouse. With the win, the Cougars (2-1, 2-1 MPSF) improved to a perfect 6-0 over the Tigers (1-3, 0-2) at home.

"I thought the match was pretty well played," BYU coach Carl McGown said. "They (Pacific) are a good, veteran team. They have a couple of early-season losses because they suspended some of their starting players. Pacific has a couple of excellent middle blockers and we were fortunate to win in four games tonight."

BYU, led by its seniors Joaquin Acosta and Mike Wall, set the offensive tone in the first two games by blowing through the Pacific defense.

Acosta was virtually unstoppable in the first game as he compiled eight kills with no errors, on ten swings (.800). The Cougars traded points with the Tigers to 16-16; at which point BYU went on a decisive 7-2 run to take the game.

"Joaquin was spectacular the whole night, especially in the first game," McGown said.

In the second game, BYU led by as many as six points (26-20), before staving off a late Pacific rally. Opposite side hitter, Wall, took charge of the game as he had eight kills in nine attempts. With the Cougars holding the momentum and a 2-0 lead, McGown rested some of his starters to give his reserve players some court action. Freshman setter Carlos Moreno arrived at BYU from Brazil last Saturday, and he made his collegiate debut at 3-3 of the third game.

"He's been in our gym for less than a week, and he's had to completely change the way he sets the ball," McGown said. "He's adapted tremendously, and as he tightens the relationship with the hitters, he should make a great impact. Tonight he played pretty well for his first game."

After dropping the third game, the Cougars returned to their original starting line-up. The Cougars proved their dominance at the net down the stretch, with kills by Moreno, Acosta and a block by Rafael Paal and Wall to cap the match.

Acosta led the Cougars with, a four-game rally scoring record, 24 kills with only one hitting error (.590) and eight digs. Wall had a double-double as he finished with 19 kills on 45 swings, and a rally-scoring single match record 14 digs. Outside hitter Jaime Mayol had 11 kills to aid the Cougar attack. Middle blocker Sean Rodgers led the Pacific attack with 15 kills (.355) and seven blocks.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night in the Smith Fieldhouse, beginning at 7 p.m. (MST).

#15 Pacific vs #6 Brigham Young (Jan 18, 2002 at Provo, Utah)
    #15 Pacific            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  JENSON, Tim.........  3|  0   1   5 -.200|  0|  0   1|  3|  4| 0  1  0|  0
 4  WACHTFOGEL, Aarom...  4| 11   9  29  .069|  4|  1   3|  1|  8| 0  3  0|  0
 9  HOEFER, Dan.........  4| 10   2  22  .364|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  1
 13 GERLACH, Tim........  4| 11   6  26  .192|  0|  2   1|  0|  6| 0  2  0|  0
 17 TAMAS, Chris........  4|  3   1   5  .400| 54|  1   3|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
 18 RODGERS, Sean.......  4| 15   4  31  .355|  0|  0   4|  0|  1| 1  6  0|  0
 1  GAWLIK, Mike........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  3|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 5  BERNSTEN, Martin....  3| 11   1  20  .500|  0|  1   1|  1|  5| 0  4  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 61  24 138  .268| 58|  5  13|  8| 41| 1 19  0|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  7  35  .257   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  4  28  .357   #15 Pacific......... 24 28 30 28  1-3; 0-2; MPSF
   3  19  6  39  .333   #6 Brigham Young.... 30 30 25 30  2-1; 2-1; MPSF
   4  12  7  36  .139
    #6 Brigham Young       |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WALL, Mike..........  4| 19   8  45  .244|  3|  1   1|  0| 14| 0  5  0|  0
 4  ACOSTA, Joaquin.....  4| 24   1  39  .590|  0|  1   4|  0|  8| 1  1  0|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  4|  5   4  18  .056|  0|  4   4|  0|  3| 1  3  0|  2
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  3| 11   4  22  .318|  0|  0   1|  1|  2| 0  1  0|  1
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4|  6   2  11  .364|  1|  2   4|  1|  6| 0  5  1|  0
 10 LARSEN, Jeremiah....  4|  0   1   1-1.000| 43|  0   2|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  1
 1  WILTON, Mike........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 11 BURKE, Michael......  2|  1   0   2  .500| 13|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  1
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  1|  1   0   2  .500|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 13 LAYTON, Tim.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  4|  2   1   4  .250|  1|  0   1|  1|  2| 0  0  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 69  21 144  .333| 61|  8  18|  5| 46| 2 16  2|  5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  4  37  .405   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  21  5  34  .471   Date: Jan 18, 2002   Attend: 2733   Time: 2:10
   3  15  5  36  .278   Referees: Tom Given, Les Calles
   4  14  7  37  .189