Fans Help Cougars Come From Behind in Win

PROVO -- It wasn't the prettiest match, but with great fan support the Cougars managed to come from behind to beat Penn State 27-30, 30-27, 30-20, 30-23 in a non-conference match in the Smith Fieldhouse. With the win, BYU improves to 13-3 (11-2 MPSF) on the season, while the Nittany Lions fall 13-4 (9-0 EIVA) on the year.

Although BYU only hit a .235 attack percent on the night, three Cougars recorded double-digit kills in the win, led by seniors Jaime Mayol and Rafael Paal with 12 kills each. Jonathan Alleman added 11 kills, while middle blocker Michael Burke contributed a whopping nine blocks (0-9). Setter Carlos Moreno recorded a match-high .600 (7-1-10), 40 assists and six blocks (2-4).

"We didn't hit great, but we kept (Penn State) down," BYU head coach Tom Peterson said. "I'm sure they're not used to hitting just .189."

Keith Howal did the best overall for the Nittany Lions with 14 kills and .545 hitting (14-2-22). BYU was able to keep senior standout Carlos Guerra to hitting just .071 on the night, although he did register a match-high 15 kills and added five blocks (1-4).

"Guerra is their senior go-to guy," Peterson said. "It is nice to keep him down to that percentage."

The Nittany Lions started the match in better shape, hitting .500 as a team in game one to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second game was close, with both teams committed too many errors and neither squad hit over .200. BYU struggled through most of the second game to maintain a one-point lead, but Mayol scored crucial kills to help the Cougars out of a 26-point tie to win the game.

"We just weren't showing much emotion. We were just letting things happen instead of making them happen," Peterson said. "I think the crowd really got us into the match. That was a big key, especially in game two. At the end of the game when it was getting tied, the crowd really got us back into the match. I think the crowd really helped us win the match."

When the teams came back from their break after game two, the match seemed completely different. BYU out-blocked Penn State 7.0 to 1.0 in the third game and the Cougars held the Nittany Lions to a .000 hitting percentage for a 30-20 win that gave BYU the lead.

The new momentum lasted into the fourth game for the Cougars, who took an early lead and held it for much of the game. There was a point when five Cougar errors let the Nittany Lions back to just a one-point deficit, but BYU was determined to have the win. With the Cougars in the lead 29-23, Peterson sent in reserve blocker David Hyte, who promptly shut out the Nittany Lions with a solo block to win the match.

BYU and Penn State will compete again Saturday night at 9 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Volleyball Box Score                        2003 BYU Men's Volleyball Stats
    No. 10 Penn State vs Brigham Young (Mar 07, 2003 at Brigham Young Univ)
    No. 10 Penn State      |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  MATTEI, Ricky.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  1| 16| 0  0  0|  0
 2  O'DELL, Dan.........  4|  1   0   2  .500| 51|  1   1|  0|  2| 1  4  0|  1
 8  SLENKER, Zach.......  4|  9  10  23 -.043|  0|  0   5|  1|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 9  GUERRA, Carlos......  4| 15  12  42  .071|  0|  0   1|  0|  4| 1  4  0|  0
 12 KOLJESAR, Zeljko....  4|  8   3  12  .417|  0|  0   6|  2|  2| 0  3  1|  1
 13 KEIL, Norman........  4|  7   4  14  .214|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  5  0|  0
 3  SCHNEIDER, Richard..  2|  1   1   2  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 4  PROPER, Matt........  1|  0   1   2 -.500|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 5  ROJAS, Rhonee.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 6  MATTHEWS, Nate......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 11 MEERSTEIN, Nate.....  2|  1   0   3  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 14 KOWAL, Keith........  4| 14   2  22  .545|  0|  1   5|  0|  1| 0  5  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 56  33 122  .189| 54|  2  24|  4| 28| 3 24  1|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  4  24  .500   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  8  34  .176   No. 10 Penn State... 30 27 20 23  13-4, 9-0 EIVA
   3  10 10  29  .000   Brigham Young....... 27 30 30 30  13-3, 11-3 MPSF
   4  16 11  35  .143
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4|  7   5  16  .125|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  9  1|  0
 5  MORENO, Carlos......  4|  7   1  10  .600| 40|  1   5|  0|  3| 2  4  1|  0
 6  GORNY, Chris........  4|  4   1   9  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  3  0|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  4| 12   5  20  .350|  0|  0   1|  1|  3| 0  5  0|  0
 9  PAAL, Rafael........  4| 12   5  32  .219|  5|  2   5|  0|  6| 0  5  2|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  4| 11   9  28  .071|  2|  1   4|  0|  8| 1  2  0|  0
 1  PATTERSON, Casey....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 8  HYTE, David.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0
 15 OLMSTEAD, Shawn.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 53  26 115  .235| 50|  4  16|  2| 28| 5 28  4|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 19.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  7  29  .241   Site: Brigham Young Univ (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  13  8  36  .139   Date: Mar 07, 2003   Attend: 1302   Time: 2:10
   3  12  5  24  .292   Referees: LES CALLES, MAILIE JEWKES, ERIN YAMASHITA
   4  14  6  26  .308