Tigers and Cougars Clash in Home Opener

Match Outlook

The No. 5 BYU men’s volleyball team (2-1) holds its home opener this weekend, hosting fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team Pacific (4-0) at 7 p.m. MT on Friday and Saturday nights. The contests will mark the first conference matchups for both teams.

The Tigers remained perfect to open the season after a 3-0 sweep of UC Santa Cruz on Jan. 9. Pacific opened the season with an earlier win over the Banana Slugs and back-to-back victories against Grand Canyon.

Series Info

BYU holds a 23-5 lead in the series between these two teams dating back to Feb. 6, 1993. The Cougars hold an undefeated 13-0 record against the Tigers in Provo, with their most recent victories coming in 2008. BYU has won the last 9 meetings and 13 of the last 14. Three of the five wins Pacific has over BYU have come in five sets, while 15 of the Cougars’ wins have been sweeps. Most recently, BYU defeated Pacific on back-to-back nights in Feb. 2009.

Match Coverage

Friday’s match will be broadcast live on BYU-TV. Fans may watch a live stream at www.byutv.org.

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...

The Cougars are coming off a 2-1 showing at the Santa Barbara Invitational last week, recording wins over No. 2 UC Irvine (3-1) and No. 8 UCLA (3-2). Advancing to the tournament’s final round, the Cougars dropped a close 3-1 match to No. 9 Cal State Northridge. Senior outside hitter Andrew Stewart knocked down double-digit kills in all three matches.