SANTA BARBARA -- After losing its first match of the season to USC on Wednesday, the top-ranked BYU men's volleyball team got back to its winning ways on Friday, knocking off eighth-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 30-22, 29-31, 30-26, 30-28. The Cougars' sixth win over a nationally-ranked opponent improved their season record to 11-1, while maintaining first place in the MPSF Mountain Division with a 7-1 league record. The Gauchos fell to 7-7 on the season and 3-7 in conference play, having lost their fourth straight MPSF match. The win also marked the 170th career victory for BYU head coach Carl McGown

BYU had four players in double figures at the net, led by former UCSB standout, Joaquin Acosta. Acosta produced a team-high 16 kills on 28 swings, while Mike wall recorded 13 kills for the Cougars. The league's leading hitter, Matt Olsen, recorded 10 kills on 13 attempts, hitting a stellar .769 at the net. Senior All-American Scott Bunker hit .400 on the night, racking up 11 kills on 13 swings. Olsen also recorded a match-leading seven blocks on the night, while senior All-American setter Hector Lebron chalked up five blocks and 51 assists.

After winning game one, 30-22, the Cougars gave up a 29-26 lead and could not capitalize on three game-point opportunities in game two, eventually falling to the Gauchos, 31-29. Middle blocker Justin Adams' serving sparked the UCSB 4-0 run, while BYU could manage just 12 kills in the entire game, hitting only .231 after producing a .615 average in game one.

UCSB stayed close with the Cougars through out game three, leveling the score at 24-24. However, BYU tallied five unanswered points to win the game, 30-26.

In the fourth game, the two teams battled to an 11-11 tie before BYU took the smallest of leads. The Cougars grabbed a 29-26 lead late in the match and found themselves unable to seal the deal on two different match-point opportunities. Unlike game two, UCSB could not overcome the BYU lead. Jan Carlo Zegarra's hitting error gave the Cougars the match-winning point.

The Cougars have one more hurdle on their current three-match, four-day road trip. BYU will take on second-ranked Pepperdine on Saturday in Malibu, Calif. The Waves are just one match behind BYU in the MPSF Mountain Division and will be looking to notch things up atop the leader board. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. (PST). Saturday's match will mark the second week in a row BYU has played in a match that featured the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country. Last week, the Cougars, then ranked No. 2, upended No. 1 UCLA in Provo.

Brigham Young vs #8 UC Santa Barbara (Mar 02, 2001 at Santa Barbara, Calif)
    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| 13   5  28  .286|  1|  0   2|  1|  5| 0  2  1|  0
 3  ACOSTA, Joaquin.....  4| 16   6  28  .357|  1|  0   5|  1|  4| 0  2  3|  1
 4  OLSEN, Matt.........  4| 10   0  13  .769|  1|  0   3|  0|  2| 0  7  1|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  4|  7   3  14  .286|  0|  0   3|  1|  4| 0  3  1|  0
 9  LEBRON, Hector......  4|  2   1   3  .333| 51|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  5  1|  0
 13 BUNKER, Scott.......  4| 11   3  20  .400|  0|  3   3|  1|  4| 0  4  0|  0
 5  WILSON, Mac.........  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  2|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  1|  1   0   1 1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 60  18 107  .393| 54|  3  19|  6| 30| 0 23  7|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  2  26  .615   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  12  6  26  .231   Brigham Young....... 30 29 30 30  11-1, 7-1 MPSF
   3  14  4  22  .455   #8 UC Santa Barbara. 22 31 26 28  7-7, 3-7 MPSF
   4  16  6  33  .303
    #8 UC Santa Barbara    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  Minc, Jeff..........  4|  2   0   2 1.000| 52|  2   4|  0|  4| 0  1  0|  1
 7  Kohl, Dave..........  3|  0   2   4 -.500|  0|  1   2|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 16 Nordberg, Brian.....  4|  9   0  13  .692|  0|  0   2|  0|  0| 0  4  0|  0
 17 Rivera, Andy........  4| 16   6  30  .333|  0|  0   6|  1|  5| 0  6  1|  0
 18 Koski, Ben..........  4| 20   7  32  .406|  0|  2   9|  0|  4| 0  5  2|  0
 22 Bengstsson, Anders..  2|  4   0   9  .444|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  2  1|  0
 3  Johnston, Shane.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 4  Galang, Britt.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  5|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 9  Zegarra, Jan Carlo..  4| 10   7  25  .120|  1|  1   4|  2|  5| 0  1  1|  0
 15 Busam, Keith........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 33 Adams, Justin.......  3|  1   2   8 -.125|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  3  2|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 62  24 123  .309| 58|  6  29|  3| 24| 1 22  7|  1
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  18  5  36  .361   Site: Santa Barbara, Calif (The Thunderdome)
   2  17  7  31  .323   Date: Mar 02, 2001   Attend: 462   Time: 2:15
   3  12  6  23  .261   Referees: Rick Olmstead, Brandt Lee
   4  15  6  33  .273   Carl McGown's 170th career victory at BYU.