Clippers Shut Out in Provo

PROVO -- It was a match full of new players, but the BYU Cougars were still able to beat the Concordia Clippers 30-20, 30-23, 30-28 in a non-conference contest in Provo Wednesday night. The Cougars hit a .429 attack percentage to increase their overall record to 12-3 (11-3 MPSF), while the Clippers hit .213 and fell to 6-10 (4-4 EIVA) on the season.

Sophomore Casey Patterson took the starting libero position and junior Dave Hyte started in the middle in their first and second starts of the season, respectively. By game three, Patterson switched to setter and the only starter left on the court was senior Luka Slabe, who guided the team with a match-high 10 kills (.389), five digs and one ace.

"It was nice to come back and win the last game," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "I like for them to get that close-game experience. But I don't know if I like it that close."

In the third game the Clippers managed to take their only lead of the match over a court full of less-experienced Cougars, but BYU rallied to a 27-point tie and took over from there. Two BYU blocks and some Concordia errors determined the game for the Cougars' two-point win.

BYU took a fairly easy win in the first game as they out-hit Concordia .556 to .273 and out-blocked them 3.0 to 0.0. With one game to boost their confidence, the Cougars progressively changed who was on the court and seemed to have a completely different team by the third game.

Junior newcomer Joe Hillman got his first major playing time of the season and hit a stellar match-high .667 attack percentage with seven kills, four digs and two blocks. Steffin Rangel, Tim Layton and John Penfield all got their first action of the season in games two and three. Leading the Cougars throughout the match was senior Luka Slabe, who hit a match-high 10 kills (.389) and added five digs and one ace.

Three Clippers recorded nine kills each, including Ricardo Maia who hit a team-high .538 percentage with nine kills (9-2-13). Setter Jesus Perez recorded 33 assists and added four kills and one ace.

The Cougars stay home this weekend to host tenth-ranked Penn State on March 7 and 8 in the Smith Fieldhouse. Friday's match will begin at 7 p.m. and Saturday's match will begin at 9 p.m. after the BYU men's basketball game.

Volleyball Box Score                        2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
        Concordia vs Brigham Young (Mar 05, 2003 at Brigham Young Univ)
    Concordia              |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  DIAZ, Rafael........  3|  5   7  18 -.111|  0|  0   4|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 5  PEREZ, Jesus........  3|  4   2   6  .333| 33|  1   4|  0|  0| 0  1  0|  2
 6  PETERSON, Metellus..  3|  4   2  13  .154|  0|  0   3|  1|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 10 REICHERT, Felipe....  3|  9   7  19  .105|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 11 PARRA, Juan Jose....  3|  9   1  20  .400|  1|  1   3|  1|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 14 MAIA, Ricardo.......  3|  9   2  13  .538|  3|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 9  NIEMCZYNOWICZ, Adam.  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 40  21  89  .213| 39|  3  15|  4| 10| 0  4  0|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  6  22  .273   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  13  7  37  .162   Concordia........... 20 23 28  6-10, 4-4
   3  15  8  30  .233   Brigham Young....... 30 30 30  12-3, 11-3
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  2|  4   2   9  .222|  0|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  2  0|  0
 3  BURKE, Michael......  1|  3   0   3 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  2|  2   0   2 1.000| 27|  0   2|  0|  2| 1  0  0|  0
 8  HYTE, David.........  3|  6   0  10  .600|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  2|  5   4  10  .100|  0|  1   2|  1|  3| 0  1  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  3| 10   3  18  .389|  3|  1   3|  0|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 2  RANGEL, Steffin.....  2|  5   2   9  .333|  0|  1   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 4  HILLMAN, Joe........  2|  7   1   9  .667|  0|  0   1|  1|  4| 0  2  0|  0
 11 PENFIELD,John.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 12 PATTERSON, Casey....  3|  1   1   2  .000| 15|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 13 LAYTON, Tim.........  2|  4   1   5  .600|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  1|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 47  14  77  .429| 45|  4  12|  3| 22| 1 12  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  3  18  .556   Site: Brigham Young Univ (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  18  5  34  .382   Date: Mar 05, 2003   Attend: 1057   Time: 1:19
   3  16  6  25  .400   Referees: Tom Given