PROVO -- The second-ranked BYU men's volleyball team handed No. 1 Hawai'i its first 3-0 loss of the season on Friday, securing the No. 1 seed and homecourt advantage throughout the MPSF Tournament. BYU blanked the Warriors, 31-29, 30-28, 30-23, to record its national leading 14th three-game victory of the season. The Cougars improve to 19-3, 13-3, while UH drops to 17-5, 12-4 on the season.

"We really struggled offensively this evening," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "Our defense made the difference in a match that we should have easily been down 0-2. There is no other way to explain winning game-one, other than a miracle. It feels really good to win, but after losing a tough match a couple weeks back, I know how Coach Wilton is feeling."

The BYU defense held the nation's sixth-ranked offense to just .086 on the night, forcing 31 attack errors and recording 19 team blocks. All-American middle blocker Scott Bunker recorded a match-high nine blocks on the night, including two solos. Senior Mac Wilson came off the bench to add an additional five blocks, along with teammates Joaquin Acosta and All-America candidate Mike Wall.

"This is the best defensive team we have ever had here at BYU," McGown said. "Tonight's win was a total team victory. It was all about defense and had nothing to do with offense. Late in the match we let down a little, and were giving away points like jelleybeans. We tightened up and our defense pulled it out."

Hawai'i's Costas Theocharidis recorded 20 of the Warriors' 41 kills, hitting a team-leading .239. Three other UH players recorded negative hitting percentages on the night, recording 12 hitting errors on 32 swings. Acosta led BYU with eight kills, while Matt Olsen hit a team-best .500, including six kills on 10 attempts.

In game one, Hawai'i took a 29-26 lead after the Cougars were called in the net. Just one point away from defeat, BYU went on a 5-0 run to stun the Warriors and steal game one, 31-29. After an Olsen kill, McGown brought Luka Slabe off the bench to serve, replacing Lebron. Without a setter on the floor, Wall picked up point number 28 on a block and then fed Jaime Mayol to tie the match, 29-29. Wall teamed with Olsen on a block for the 30th point and a Slabe ace ended the comeback.

Hawai'i began game two unimpressed with the Cougar comeback, jumping out to and maintaining a four-point lead through much of the game. The Warriors pushed the lead to 26-20, before a Bunker kill fueled a season-high 7-0 run. The 6-foot-9 Wilson picked up a couple blocks and won a jaust to lead the comeback. Theocharidis would tie things up for the Warriors at 28-28, before a serving error and attack error would seal the Cougars' second-straight comeback, 30-28.

In the final game, BYU looked as if it would wrap things up in a hurry, rolling out to a commanding 11-3 lead. The Warriors regrouped and battled back, eventually evening things up at 20-20. Unphased by the Warriors' resurgence, the Cougars promptly posted six straight points, taking a 26-20 lead behind Wilson's three blocks. UH would pick up a couple more points, but Wall and Bunker teamed up to stuff a Warrior attack, ending the match, 30-23.

"We did a lousy job of closing," UH head coach Mike Wilton said. "It's not realy so much what they did, more than what we weren't able to do. BYU is a very good team, but I think we had more to do with the outcome than they did."

The two teams will square off again tomorrow night in the Smith Fieldhouse, beginning at 7 p.m. (MDT). Saturday's match will mark the regular-season finale for both teams.

By virtue of tonight's victory, the Cougars will play host to UC Irvine on Saturday, April 21 in the first-round of the MPSF Tournament. Match time and broadcast information has yet to be determined. The Anteaters defeated Pacific on Saturday, 3-2 to earn the last and final berth to the league tournament.

ADDITIONAL GAME NOTES:

• Including Friday's 3-0 win over No. 1 Hawai'i, the Cougars have notched 14 three-game victories on the season. Eight of those 13 wins have been against nationally-ranked opponents, including four wins against opponents ranked in the top-10. The Cougars have posted the most 3-0 wins in the MPSF, followed by UCLA and Hawai'i with nine. BYU is just one of two teams in the MPSF which have not lost a 3-0 game this season. All 10 other teams have been shutout at least once, including Long Beach State, Hawai'i, Pepperdine, USC and Stanford. The 2001 season marks the most 3-0 wins since the Cougars recorded 20 three-game victories en route to the NCAA National Championship in 1999. This season also marks only the second time in school history BYU has avoided a 3-0 defeat. From Jan. 31-Feb. 17, the Cougars laced together a streak of five straight 3-0 wins, equaling the school record for consecutive three-game victories. Friday's match marked the first three-game loss for the Warriors since April 22, 2000 (vs. USC).

• Friday's match marked the third third game the Cougars have played, featuring a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. The Cougars are a perfect 3-0 when playing in a one vs. two matchup, including wins over No. 1 UCLA and No. 1 Hawai'i. Then top-ranked BYU also defeated No. 2 Pepperdine earlier in the season.

• With Friday's win, the Cougars are 12-1 in the Smith Fieldhouse this season.

• Friday's match will marked the fourth time in BYU volleyball history the Cougars have battled on the oft unlucky "Friday the 13th". BYU has posted a 2-2 mark on the unluckiest day of the year. All four games have been decided in three-straight games, including a 3-0 win on Feb. 13, 1998 against USC and a 3-0 win against Hawai'i on April 13, 2001. BYU has played three home games on the 13th, posting a 2-1 record.

#1 Hawai'i vs Brigham Young (Apr 13, 2001 at Provo, Utah)
    #1 Hawai'i             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  MILADINOVIC, Dejan..  3|  5   3  16  .125|  3|  0   0|  0|  1| 1  5  0|  0
 4  TUYAY, Kimo.........  3|  0   2   3 -.667| 32|  1   2|  0|  9| 0  4  0|  2
 6  ZIMET, Eyal.........  3|  5   6  13 -.077|  1|  0   4|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
 9  THEOCHARIDIS, Costas  3| 20   9  46  .239|  0|  2   1|  0|  7| 0  3  0|  0
 10 DAVIS, Brenton......  3|  1   4  16 -.188|  2|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  3  1|  0
 22 TUKUAFU, Tory.......  3|  4   4  12  .000|  0|  0   4|  1|  1| 0  1  0|  0
 7  PODLEWSKI, Vernon...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 15 CHING, Tony.........  2|  6   3  10  .300|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 41  31 116  .086| 38|  3  11|  1| 39| 1 16  1|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13 10  35  .086   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  18  8  37  .270   #1 Hawai'i.......... 29 28 23  17-5, 12-4
   3  10 13  44 -.068   Brigham Young....... 31 30 30  19-3, 13-3
    Brigham Young          |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  WALL, Mike..........  3|  4   7  16 -.188|  2|  0   1|  0|  8| 1  4  0|  0
 3  ACOSTA, Joaquin.....  3|  8   1  26  .269|  0|  0   3|  0|  2| 0  5  0|  0
 4  OLSEN, Matt.........  2|  6   1  10  .500|  0|  0   3|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  1
 9  LEBRON, Hector......  3|  2   2   6  .000| 37|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  2  1|  0
 12 ALLEMAN, Jonathan...  3|  6   5  16  .062|  0|  0   0|  1|  2| 0  1  0|  0
 13 BUNKER, Scott.......  3|  7   2  15  .333|  1|  0   0|  0|  8| 2  7  0|  1
 5  WILSON, Mac.........  2|  4   1   7  .429|  1|  0   1|  0|  2| 1  4  2|  0
 7  MAYOL, Jaime........  3|  4   0  10  .400|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  1|  0
 17 PESSOA, Fernando....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  5| 0  0  0|  0
 18 SLABE, Luka.........  3|  5   3  15  .133|  0|  1   1|  1|  5| 0  1  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 46  22 121  .198| 41|  1  10|  3| 38| 4 30  4|  2
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 19.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  15  8  35  .200   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  17  5  44  .273   Date: Apr 13, 2001   Attend: 4581   Time: 2:00
   3  14  9  42  .119   Referees: Les Calles, Tom Given

PROVO -- It all comes down to this. No. 1 vs. No. 2. The MPSF regular-season title, homecourt advantage throughout the MPSF Tournament and one giant step closer to the NCAA Final Four in Long Beach, Calif., is all riding on the outcome of this weekend's two-match series between top-ranked Hawai'i and second-ranked BYU. The two teams will square off Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14 at the Smith Fieldhouse, beginning at 7 p.m. (MDT).

"In my opinion, this will be the most important weekend in BYU volleyball history," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "There are so many things at stake this weekend, including a trip to the Final Four. As a collegiate volleyball player, it really isn't possible to play for more important things in one match."

The second-ranked Cougars (18-3, 12-3) enter this weekend's series against No. 1 Hawai'i (17-4, 12-3) needing to win just one of the two scheduled matches in order to clinch homecourt advantage throughout the upcoming MPSF Tournament. Two wins would likely put the Cougars in the driver's seat for an at-large berth to the NCAA Final Four in Long Beach, should they fail to earn the automatic bid by winning the league tournament.

Currently BYU and Hawai'i are tied for the league lead with identical 12-3 records, however one win would clinch the homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs for the Cougars by virtue of the number of wins BYU has posted against inter-divisional opponents. The Cougars are 5-0 against Mountain Division opponents, while the Warriors are 4-1 against opponents in the Pacific Division.

After holding the number-one ranking in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll for a season-best five straight weeks, the Cougars dropped last week to No. 2 after a five-game loss at Pacific. Hawai'i took over the top spot, marking the first time since 1996 the Warriors had earned the No. 1 ranking. In this week's poll, the Warriors remained No. 1 for a second straight week, despite the Cougars' two-straight, three-game victories at fifth-ranked Stanford.

The Cougars own a slight 11-9 lead in the series, having defeated the Warriors in five of the last six meetings, including four straight victories in Provo. BYU is 7-1 all time against Hawai'i when playing in Provo.

Friday's match will be televised live on KBYU, ch. 11 with Holly Rowe calling the action and Chris McGown lending expert commentary. Fans outside the Salt Lake area can watch the game on BYU-TV. For BYU-TV access, visit http://www.byutv.org or view the information sheet listed below.

HOW TO ACCESS BYU-TV:

BYU Television is available from the following sources:

• Dish Network, channel 9403

• DirecTV, channel 374 see 2001 DirecTV offers

• AT&T Digital Cable (Utah)- Gradual rollout beginning March 30th

• Cox Digital Cable (Phoenix Area)- Available Now!

• Cable America (Mesa, AZ)- Channel 97.

• Via the Internet at www.byutv.org

Dish Network- On Dish, BYUTV is part of the basic Dish Network Top 40 package. However, this receive from different satellites, because it is located on Dish Network's second satellite.

You can order a Dish Network receiver with Dish 500 satellite dish from New Star Communications at 1-800-968-9929. Be sure to give them reference code #2011.

Or, you may contact any Dish Network reseller. You can also reach Dish Network directly at 1-800-333-DISH.

DirecTV- On Direct, BYU Television is part of the basic Select Choice package. To receive the

channel, though, you must have a multi-satellite 18x24 oval dish and related receiver, because BYUTV is on DirecTV's second satellite.

You can also order a new or upgrade dish from New Star Communications at 1-800-968-9929. Be sure to give them reference code #2011.

Or, you may visit visit your local reseller or contact DirecTV at 1-800-DIRECTV. DirecTV is offering many discount packages for 2001. View the 2001 offers.

Please note that neither BYUTV nor Brigham Young University is affiliated with the Dish Network or DirecTV except as a provider of educational programming. We are simply providing this information as a service to those who may be interested.

AT&T Digital Cable (Utah)- BYUTV will be available throughout the state of Utah on AT&T Digital Cable. A gradual statewide rollout is expected by begin March 30.

Cox Digital Cable (Phoenix Area)- Cox Cable subscribers in the Phoenix/Mesa area now have access to BYUTV on the Cox digital system.

In addition, BYUTV is available on the All-American Cable System in Mesa (channel 97).

On the Internet- You can watch and listen to BYUTV using the Windows Media Player via the Net. Both Windows and Mac versions of this product can be downloaded for free by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/. Please note that this service generally requires a high-speed Internet connection for the best experience.