HONOLULU -- The BYU Cougars men's volleyball team capped the first week of the season with a 3-1 (30-28, 25-30, 30-28, 30-19) win over the University of Hawai'i Friday night to improve to 3-0 on the season and finish first at the Outrigger Tournament.

While the Cougars struggled in the first match and a half of the tournament, they played their best volleyball of the week against Hawai'i, turning in solid performances in three of the four games. After splitting the first two games, both teams battled hard in the third, with the lead changing hands several times. BYU went ahead for good at 26-25 and got two kills from senior middle blocker Michael Burke and one apiece from junior setter Rob Neilson and freshman outside hitter Ivan Perez to take the game 30-28.

Up 2-1, BYU was in control throughout the fourth game, hitting .455 as a team and limiting the Warriors to a dismal .122 hitting percentage. With the score tied at three, the Cougars reeled off four straight to take a 7-3 lead. Hawai'i kept it interesting, keeping the game close at 12-10 before BYU ran away, outscoring the Warriors 18-9 to claim the game, 30-19, and the match.

Three Cougars were named to the Outrigger All-Tournament Team. Burke, who was second on the squad with 44 kills, hit .438, and averaged 1.15 blocks per game, was named tournament MVP. He finished Friday's match with 12 kills, seven digs, and a match-high six blocks.

Junior outside hitter Victor Batista was also named to the All-Tournament team. He notched 54 kills to lead the Cougars and averaged 1.54 digs per game. His 21 kills on Friday led BYU. Senior Casey Patterson was the third member of the All-Tournament team. In the first two matches he provided a much-needed spark off the bench and earned his first career start on Friday. For the week he had 40 kills while hitting .364 and averaged 1.75 digs per game. On Friday night he chipped in career-highs of 19 kills and 10 digs.

As a team, BYU hit .355 on Friday and had 14.5 team blocks. Along with the All-Tournament performers, Neilson had a strong match, contributing 58 assists, six kills, nine digs, and four blocks.

Hawai'i hit .274 as a team and recorded 11.5 team blocks. Senior outside hitter Pedro Azenha went for a match-high 22 kills for the Warriors.

While the Cougars never trailed in the first game, it was close throughout. With a 15-14 lead, the Cougars went on a 7-2 run highlighted by two Neilson blocks. Hawai'i fought back, outscoring BYU 9-4 to close the gap to 26-25. The teams traded points until a freshman middle blocker Russell Holmes and Batista came up with a big block to give Cougars a 29-27 advantage. After a service error, Batista registered his fifth kill to give BYU the opening game. Bender finished the first with six kills for the Warriors while Patterson and Batista each had five for the Cougars, who hit .359 (21-7-39) on the game.

In the second, Batista picked up where he left off in the first, scoring the first point of the game with a kill. BYU appeared to be in control, taking a 13-11 lead before making several errors and allowing the Warriors to take control at 14-13. Except for a tie at 18, the Warriors led the rest of the game on their way to a 30-25 win. Patterson recorded five kills in the second while the Cougar hitting percentage dropped off to .206.

With a perfect 3-0 record, BYU will return home to play Cal Baptist Jan. 14 and 15 at the Smith Fieldhouse for the season home openers. The Jan. 14 match will begin at 7:30 p.m. while the Jan. 15 match will begin at 7 p.m.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
       Brigham Young Univ. vs Hawai`i (Jan 07, 2005 at Honolulu, Hawaii)
    Brigham Young Univ.    |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  BURKE, Michael......  4| 12   1  24  .458|  2|  0   2|  0|  7| 0  6  0|  0|  15.0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  4|  9   4  24  .208|  0|  2   3|  2|  6| 1  3  0|  0|  13.5
 9  PATTERSON, Casey....  4| 19   3  35  .457|  5|  1   3|  0| 10| 0  3  2|  0|  21.5
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  4|  5   3  12  .167|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  4  0|  0|   8.0
 14 NEILSON, Rob........  4|  6   2   9  .444| 58|  0   2|  0|  9| 0  4  0|  0|   8.0
 15 BATISTA, Victor.....  4| 21   9  37  .324|  1|  0   2|  1|  6| 1  3  2|  0|  23.5
 2  STEWART, Bryan......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 4  CONGELLIERE, Robert.  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 7  ROWLEY, Brian.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 17 EVANS, Taylor.......  4|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 72  22 141  .355| 67|  3  14|  3| 47| 3 23  4|  0|  89.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  21  7  39  .359   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  8  34  .206   Brigham Young Univ.. (3) 30 25 30 30  3-0
   3  18  4  35  .400   Hawai`i............. (1) 28 30 28 19  2-1
   4  18  3  33  .455
    Hawai`i                |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Delgado, Jose.......  3|  1   5  10 -.400|  1|  1   1|  1|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
 10 Beckwith, Brian.....  4|  2   1   6  .167| 55|  0   1|  0|  9| 1  0  1|  0|   3.0
 12 Azenha, Pedro.......  4| 22   7  57  .263|  1|  0   5|  0|  3| 0  5  1|  0|  24.5
 13 Bender, Matt........  4| 15   5  36  .278|  1|  2   2|  0|  5| 0  3  3|  0|  18.5
 16 La Barre, Maulia....  4| 10   2  22  .364|  1|  0   2|  0|  2| 1  4  0|  0|  13.0
 19 Dante, Dio..........  4| 10   1  12  .750|  0|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  5  1|  0|  12.5
 4  Kalima, Eric........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 8  Hakala, Lauri.......  4|  6   2  14  .286|  1|  0   2|  0|  4| 0  2  2|  0|   7.0
 11 Reft, Alfred........  4|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   0|  2| 12| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  4| 66  23 157  .274| 62|  3  16|  3| 40| 2 19  8|  0|  80.5
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  5  42  .262   Site: Honolulu, Hawaii (Stan Sheriff Center)
   2  20  5  38  .395   Date: Jan 07, 2005   Attend: 4682   Time: 2:10
   3  17  5  36  .333   Referees: Wayne Lee, Ernest Ho
   4  13  8  41  .122

HONOLULU -- The defending NCAA National Champion BYU Cougar men's volleyball team will kick off the 2005 season with three matches at the Outrigger Tournament this week in Honolulu. BYU will square off against east coast and Midwest powers Penn State and Lewis University, and the University of Hawai'i, the tournament host.

"We're very excited to start the season," coach Tom Peterson said. "We've never played in the Outrigger Tournament before. It is a great opportunity to play in such a prestigious tournament."

The Cougars will be introducing a new lineup in Hawai'i after losing five starters from the 2004 National Championship team. Senior middle blocker Michael Burke and junior outside hitter Victor Batista are the two returning starters.

Burke hit for a team high .506 hitting percentage while finishing second in blocks at 1.17 per game. Batista led the team with 1.24 blocks per game and was second on the team with a .458 hitting percentage.

Several players will look to crack the lineup to help BYU maintain its winning tradition. The frontrunners include junior setter Rob Neilson, junior libero Brian Rowley, freshman outside hitter Ivan Perez, freshman middle blocker Russell Holmes, and junior opposite hitter Taylor Evans. Neilson and Evans are the only two with significant playing time.

"It will be interesting to see how they perform," Peterson said. "We are inexperienced but at the same time very talented."

The Lewis University Flyers will be the first opponent for the Cougars as the teams play Wednesday Jan. 5 at 4 p.m. HST. The Flyers are coming off their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Final Four, which they won in 2003. After winning the MIVA postseason tournament to earn a birth in 2004, Lewis lost to BYU in the NCAA Semifinals.

Senior outside hitter Jeff Soler and junior middle blocker Enrique Escalante return to lead the Flyers. Soler averaged 3.58 kills per game and 1.37 digs in 2004 while Escalante was second the team with a .406 hitting percentage. Escalante also contributed 1.14 kills per game.

The second match for the Cougars will be against Penn State on Friday at 4 p.m., the school where Peterson won his first national championship in 1994. Penn State also earned a birth to the 2004 NCAA Final Four by winning the EIVA postseason tournament. The Nittany Lions lost to Long Beach State in the semifinals.

The top-returning player for the Nittany Lions is senior middle blocker Keith Kowal. A First Team All-American, Kowal led the team with 3.83 kills per game while hitting a blistering .574. He also led the team with 1.39 per game.

BYU will conclude the Outrigger Tournament with a match against Hawai'i. The Warriors had a solid 2004 season, finishing 17-12 overall and 13-9 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Warriors' season ended with a loss to UCLA in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals.

Senior outside hitter Delano Thomas, a 2004 Third Team All-MPSF honoree selection, will lead the Warriors. Thomas led the team with 4.00 kills per game while hitting .298. He led the MPSF with .690 aces per game in conference play.

The Cougars will be back in action Jan. 14 and 15 in Provo against the Cal Baptist Lancers of the NAIA.