BYU Set to Take on Cal State Northridge in Weekend Series

This Week's Schedule

Match 7

No. 8 BYU (5-1) vs. Cal State Northridge (1-1, 0-1)

Friday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. (MST)

Smith Fieldhouse (5,000) • Provo, Utah

Match 8

No. 8 BYU (5-1) vs. Cal State Northridge

Saturday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m. (MST)

Smith Fieldhouse (5,000) • Provo, Utah

After posting a 2-1 record on the road last week, including crucial wins at No. 12 Stanford and No. 6 Hawai'i, the eighth-ranked Cougars return to the Smith Fieldhouse (5,000) for a two-match series with MPSF foe Cal State Northridge. The weekend series will begin Friday, Jan. 28th and will conclude on Saturday, Jan. 29th. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. (MST).

The Rivalry (BYU vs. CS Northridge)

Friday's match will mark the 21st meeting between the two teams, dating back to 1990. Cal State Northridge owns an 11-9 record in the series. The Matadors began the rivalry with seven straight wins, including five 3-0 decisions, before the Cougars were able to post a single victory. BYU won its first match against the Matadors on Feb. 22, 1993 and have gone on to win nine of the last 13 meetings, including a current streak of six straight wins. BYU has not lost to the Matadors since March 30, 1996. Four of the Cougars' last six wins have been in three straight games. Only twice in the 10-year history of the series has a match gone five games -- both Cougars losses.

Scouting Cal State Northridge

The Matadors enter this weekend's series with a 1-1 overall record, including a win over LaVerne and a MPSF loss to UC Irvine on Friday. Cal State Northridge dropped its first conference match of the season, falling to the Anteaters, 7-15, 3-15, 5-15. The Matadors are hitting .219 as a team, led by redshirt-freshman Jeff Toon who has 10 kills on 16 attempts with just two errors (.500). Sophomore J.P Jandreau leads the team with 26 kills, while senior Junior Mosones ranks second on the CSUN roster with 22. John baxter, a junior from Simi Valley, Calif., will direct the Matador offense. The former Royal High School standout has produced 72 assists on the season. Defensively, the Matadors are led by Toon and Eckhard Walter, who have combined on 11 of CSUN's 20 total blocks. Pat Lufrano and Mosones have 26 of the Matadors 51 digs. Walter leads the team with eight aces, averaging 1.3 per game.

Last Week (vs. Pacific, vs. Stanford, vs. Hawai'i)

BYU returned to Provo having picked up two crucial road victories during the week, shutting out No. 12 Stanford, 3-0, and knocking off Hawai'i in a three hour (26 minute) marathon match in Honolulu. The Cougars began the week with a five-game loss at the hands of 14th-ranked Pacific. in Stockton, Calif., marking the Cougars first loss to the Tigers since Feb. 17, 1996. The following day, BYU rebounded against Stanford, shutting out the Cardinal, 3-0, for the second straight season. Joaquin Acosta led the Cougars with his fifth straight double-digit performance, adding 18 kills to his team-leading total. Acosta added a team-high 30 kills at Hawai'i, helping the Cougars to their first win at Hawai'i since the 1994 season. With the win, BYU improved its record to 5-1 on the season, including a 2-1 mark in MPSF play. For the week, Acosta hit .272, recording a team-leading 67 kills on 147 attempts at the net. Defensively, the Puerto Rican native tallied 19 digs and added 16 total blocks on the week, averaging 1.23 blocks per game. Acosta, a transfer from UC Santa Barbara, has produced double-figures in kills in every match he has played this season, leading the Cougars with 121 kills (5.26 kills per game).

Three and Out

In the Cougars six matches this season, three have been decided in just three games. BYU twice blanked nationally-ranked Lewis in Provo on Jan. 14-15 and then handed Stanford a three-game sweep last weekend, marking the second straight season the Cougars have beaten the Cardinal in three straight games. Since the 1998 season, BYU has won a total 36 (of 59) matches in three games, while the Cougars have only been defeated in three straight on three different occasions. BYU recorded a single-season record during its Championship run in 1999 with 21, 3-0 victories. The Cougars have not been shutout since April 4, 1998 at Hawai'i. In fact, the Cougars have lost only twice in the past 37 matches with both matches last five games. All-time, the Cougars are 124-93 in three-game matches. Following is a breakdown of the Cougars all-time record in three, four and five-game match.

Three-Games (217 Games)

124-93 (.571)

Four Games (75 Games)

43-32 (.573)

Five Games (50 Games)

27-23 (.540)

BYU Head Coach Carl McGown

Carl McGown is in his 11th season of NCAA competition at BYU with an overall record of 146-112 (.566), including a school record 30-1 mark last season. Over the last three season, including six matches in 2000, McGown has led the Cougars to an amazing 71-14 (.835) record, averaging over 22 wins per season. The all-time winningest coach in BYU men's volleyball history led the Cougars to their first-ever NCAA National Championship in 1999, posting a 30-1 overall record and an 18-1 mark in the Mountain Division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. McGown and BYU began NCAA competition in 1990 after winning three national club titles and finishing second in 1986 and 1989. He paced the Cougars to five top-10 finishes in the past six seasons, including No. 1 in 1999, No. 7 in 1998, No. 4 in 1997, No. 5 in 1995 and No. 2 in 1994. Following the 1999 season, McGown was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year. Over the past 10 seasons, McGown has coached nine different All-Americans, eight players who have gone on to professional careers and eight players who have represented the United States at various levels of international competition. In addition, three other former BYU players have represented their native countries in international competition. McGown served as head coach of the USA men's team from 1973-1976 and became a technical advisor to the National Team in 1980. Since then, McGown has coached in four different Olympic Games, including the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, the 1988 Games in Soul, the 1992 Games in Barcelona and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. McGown has also coached the National Team in seven different World Championships, including 1970, '74, '82, '86, '90, '94 and '99. McGown has also coached in the World University Games, as well as the Pan American Games.

BYU Volleyball ... It's FANTASTIC!

Of the nine matches around the country to hit the 1,000-attendance mark, BYU has played in four of those matches, marking the most appearances in front of 1,000 or more fans of any team in the nation. All three of the Cougars' home matches have exceeded 2,000 fans, including the season-opener when 5,735 fans filled the Smith Fieldhouse. BYU is averaging 3,585 fans over three matches. Last season BYU set an NCAA single-match attendance record on Feb. 19 with 14,156 fans in attendance against Hawai'i (at the Marriott Center). The Cougars recorded an all-time high 3,037.2 fans per match during the 1999 season, including a record 4,748.2 in Provo.

2000 NCAA Men's Volleyball Attendance Highs

5,895 - BYU at Hawai'i, Jan. 21

5,735 - Loyola Chicago at Brigham Young, Jan. 8

4,865 - Loyola Chicago at Hawai'i, Jan. 14

4,707 - Loyola Chicago at Hawai'i, Jan. 13

2,558 - Lewis at BYU, Jan. 15

2,463 - Lewis at BYU, Jan. 14

1,200 - USC at Penn State, Jan. 15

1,100 - USC at Penn State, Jan. 14

1,017 - UCLA at Stanford, Jan. 22

Quick Sets

• BYU has produced at least one All-American in nine of the past 10 seasons, including Ryan Millar, Ossie Antonetti and Hector Lebron who each earned All-America honors last season.

• The Cougars have won a record 32 straight matches in the Smith Fieldhouse, dating back to a Mar. 28, 1997 loss to UCLA.

• BYU has won 42 of its last 45 matches in Provo. The Cougars' all-time record 23 consecutive "home" victories came to an end last season, when Long Beach State upset the Cougars, 2-3, in the Marriott Center. Since then, BYU has gone on to win nine straight home matches.

• Head coach Carl McGown needs just four victories to record his 150th career win at BYU.

• BYU won a school record 21 of 31 matches in three straight games during the 1999 season. In 2000, the Cougars have already posted three, three-game victories. BYU has tallied three-game victories in 28 of its last 45 matches, dating back to 1998.

•The BYU defense has dominated its opponents at the net this season. The Cougars have out-blocked their opponents, 209-120. BYU is averaging 34.8 blocks per match, while its opponents are averaging just 20 blocks per match. Against Lewis, BYU out-blocked the Flyers by a combined total of 50 blocks over two matches (32-9, 43-16).

• The Cougars are 5-1 on the season when producing 50 or more kills in a match.

• Middle Blocker Mac Wilson is expected to return to the lineup in the next two weeks after breaking his index finger during a December practice.

• UC Santa Barbara transfer Joaquin Acosta leads the team with 121 kills, averaging nearly 5.3 kills per game. Acosta produced a season-high 30 kills against Hawai'i and has recorded double-figures in kills in each of the Cougars' six matches.

• BYU setter Chris Pitzak needs just seven assists to reach his 2300th career assist, which ranks him fourth on the Cougars' all-time assist list. Pitzak needs 431 assists to overtake Jesse Gant for third place on the career assist list. Currently Pitzak is averaging 72 assists per match and is on pace to eclipse Gant's mark of 2,724 assists on Feb. 11 (vs. Loyola Marymount.)